Astrocytes are specialized glial cells that outnumber neurons by over fivefold. They contiguously tile the entire central nervous system (CNS) and exert many essential complex functions in the healthy CNS. Astrocytes respond to all forms of CNS insults through a process referred to as reactive astrogliosis, which has become a pathological hallmark of CNS structural lesions. Substantial progress has been made recently in determining functions and mechanisms of reactive astrogliosis and in identifying roles of astrocytes in CNS disorders and pathologies. A vast molecular arsenal at the disposal of reactive astrocytes is being defined. Transgenic mouse models are dissecting specific aspects of reactive astrocytosis and glial scar formation in vivo. Astrocyte involvement in specific clinicopathological entities is being defined. It is now clear that reactive astrogliosis is not a simple all-or-none phenomenon but is a finely gradated continuum of changes that occur in context-dependent manners regulated by specific signaling events. These changes range from reversible alterations in gene expression and cell hypertrophy with preservation of cellular domains and tissue structure, to long-lasting scar formation with rearrangement of tissue structure. Increasing evidence points towards the potential of reactive astrogliosis to play either primary or contributing roles in CNS disorders via loss of normal astrocyte functions or gain of abnormal effects. This article reviews (1) astrocyte functions in healthy CNS, (2) mechanisms and functions of reactive astrogliosis and glial scar formation, and (3) ways in which reactive astrocytes may cause or contribute to specific CNS disorders and lesions.

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Astrocytes: biology and pathology

The events leading to the inflammation and tissue damage associated with Alzheimer's disease are unclear. Golenbock and colleagues now show that amyloid-β activates the NALP3 inflammasome, which triggers the release of proinflammatory and neurotoxic factors. The fibrillar peptide amyloid-β (Aβ) has a chief function in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Interleukin 1β (IL-1β) is a key cytokine in the inflammatory response to Aβ. Insoluble materials such as crystals activate the inflammasome formed by the cytoplasmic receptor NALP3, which results in the release of IL-1β. Here we identify the NALP3 inflammasome as a sensor of Aβ in a process involving the phagocytosis of Aβ and subsequent lysosomal damage and release of cathepsin B. Furthermore, the IL-1β pathway was essential for the microglial synthesis of proinflammatory and neurotoxic factors, and the inflammasome, caspase-1 and IL-1β were critical for the recruitment of microglia to exogenous Aβ in the brain. Our findings suggest that activation of the NALP3 inflammasome is important for inflammation and tissue damage in Alzheimer's disease.

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The NALP3 inflammasome is involved in the innate immune response to amyloid-beta.

Cytokines and chemokines: At the crossroads of cell signalling and inflammatory disease.

The accumulation of lysosomes and their hydrolases within neurons is a well-established neuropathologic feature of Alzheimer disease (AD). Here we show that lysosomal pathology in AD brain involves extensive alterations of macroautophagy, an inducible pathway for the turnover of intracellular constituents, including organelles. Using immunogold labeling with compartmental markers and electron microscopy on neocortical biopsies from AD brain, we unequivocally identified autophagosomes and other prelysosomal autophagic vacuoles (AVs), which were morphologically and biochemically similar to AVs highly purified from mouse liver. AVs were uncommon in brains devoid of AD pathology but were abundant in AD brains particularly, within neuritic processes, including synaptic terminals. In dystrophic neurites, autophagosomes, multivesicular bodies, multilamellar bodies, and cathepsin-containing autophagolysosomes were the predominant organelles and accumulated in large numbers. These compartments were distinguishable from lysosomes and lysosomal dense bodies, previously shown also to be abundant in dystrophic neurites. Autophagy was evident in the perikarya of affected neurons, particularly in those with neurofibrillary pathology where it was associated with a relative depletion of mitochondria and other organelles. These observations provide the first evidence that macroautophagy is extensively involved in the neurodegenerative/regenerative process in AD. The striking accumulations of immature AV forms in dystrophic neurites suggest that the transport of AVs and their maturation to lysosomes may be impaired, thereby impeding the suspected neuroprotective functions of autophagy.

http://www.aecom.yu.edu/cuervo/images/AD-autophagy%202005%20JNEN.pdf

Extensive involvement of autophagy in Alzheimer disease: an immuno-electron microscopy study.

The inflammatory response system of brain: implications for therapy of Alzheimer and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Contribution of glial cells to the development of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease

The function of microglia associated with β-amyloid deposits still remains a controversial issue. On the basis of recent ultrastructural data, microglia were postulated to be cells that form amyloid fibrils, not phagocytes that remove amyloid deposits. In this electron microscopic study, we examined the ability of microglia to ingest and digest exogenous amyloid fibrils in vitro. We demonstrate that amyloid fibrils are ingested by cultured microglial cells and collected and stored in phagosomes. The ingested, nondegraded amyloid remains within phagosomes for up to 20 days, suggesting a very limited effectiveness of microglia in degrading β-amyloid fibrils. On the other hand, we showed that in microglial cells of classical plaques in brain cortex of patients with Alzheimer's disease, amyloid fibrils appear first in altered endoplasmic reticulum and deep infoldings of cell membranes. These differences in intracellular distribution of amyloid fibrils in microglial cells support our observations that microglial cells associated with amyloid plaques are engaged in production of amyloid, but not in phagocytosis.

Ultrastructure of the microglia that phagocytose amyloid and the microglia that produce β-amyloid fibrils

Ultrastructural studies of serial sections of the vessels with amyloid deposits in the brain cortex of patients with Alzheimer's disease showed that cells in the position of pericytes — perivascular cells - and perivascular microglial cells are producers of amyloid fibrils in the vascular wall. Three types of changes from normal are distinguishable in the vessel wall: (1) semicircular or circular thickening of vascular wall containing a large amount of amorphous material and various number of amyloid fibrils, (2) tuberous amyloid deposits containing both amorphous material and amyloid fibrils, some of the fibrils being arranged in strata and others arranged radially, and (3) amyloid star composed of a predominantly radial arrangement of bundles of amyloid fibrils and a less prominent amorphous component. A mixture of amorphous material and amyloid fibrils is present in cell membrane envaginations of perivascular cells, and occasionally perivascular microglial cells. Bundles of amyloid fibrils are found in altered cisternae of the endoplasmic reticulum and in the channels confluent with the infoldings of the plasma membrane of perivascular microglial cells. The amyloid deposition in the wall of the vessel causes degeneration of endothelial cells and the reduction of, and in some vessels obliteration of, the vessel lumen. In areas affected by amyloid angiopathy, extensive degeneration both of the neuropil and of neurons was observed. These changes were accompanied by astrogliosis. This study demonstrates similarities in amyloid formation in amyloid angiopathy and in β-amyloid plaques in the neuropil and suggests that cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system of the brain (perivascular cells and perivascular microglia) are engaged in amyloid fibril formation.

Ultrastructural studies of the cells forming amyloid in the cortical vessel wall in Alzheimer's disease.

The role of microglial cells and astrocytes in fibrillar plaque evolution in transgenic APPSW mice

Ultrastructural three-dimensional reconstruction of human classical plaques in different stages of development shows that microglial cells are the major factor driving plaque formation by fibrillar amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition. The amount of fibrillar Aβ released by microglial cells and the area of direct contact between amyloid and neuron determine the extent of dystrophic changes in neuronal processes and synapses. The volume of hypertrophic astrocytic processes separating fibrillar amyloid from neuron is a measure of the protective activation of astrocytes. On the bases of the volume of amyloid star, microglial cells, dystrophic neurites, and hypertrophic astrocytic processes, and spatial relationships between plaque components, three stages in classical plaque development have been distinguished: early, mature, and late. In early plaque, the leading pathology is fibrillar Aβ deposition by microglial cells with amyloid star formation. The mature plaque is characterized by a balance between amyloid production, neuronal dystrophy, and astrocyte hypertrophy. In late classical plaque, microglial cells retract and expose neuropil on direct contact with amyloid star, enhancing both dystrophic changes in neurons and hypertrophic changes in astrocytes. In late plaques, activation of astrocytes predominates. They degrade amyloid star and peripheral amyloid wisps. The effect of these changes is classical plaque degradation to fibrillar primitive and finally to nonfibrillar, diffuse-like plaques.

Kuo-Chiang Wang

Papers

Contribution of glial cells to the development of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease

Ultrastructure of the microglia that phagocytose amyloid and the microglia that produce β-amyloid fibrils

Ultrastructural studies of the cells forming amyloid in the cortical vessel wall in Alzheimer's disease.

The role of microglial cells and astrocytes in fibrillar plaque evolution in transgenic APPSW mice

Microglial cells are the driving force in fibrillar plaque formation, whereas astrocytes are a leading factor in plaque degradation