Glia: new research reveals the process of neuroinflammation

February 15, 2020 / biogeoin / -- astrocytes are neural cells with many important functions in the nervous system In brain infection and neurodegenerative diseases, these cells often have inflammation, which is called astrogliosis Recently, researchers from the d'Or Institute of research and Education (idor) and others explored the pathogenesis of the disease The results were published in the journal glia To understand the inflammatory process of astrocytomas, Stevens rehen, a scientist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (ufrj) and idor, used a cell culture method Rehen's team used reprogramming human cells found in the urine of voluntary donors to turn them into pluripotent stem cells The authors then stimulated the stem cells to become healthy astrocytes, which were then stimulated by TNF The observed results showed that the inflammatory process occurred within the first hour after the stimulation, and gradually weakened the function of astrocytes with the passage of time (image source: www Pixabay Com) in addition to the morphological changes of these cells, inflammation also interferes with the main function of astrocytes: regulating neurotransmitters, substances secreted by neurons are responsible for transmitting information through synapses This study shows that human astrocytes with astrocytosis show impaired glutamate uptake It is worth noting that glutamate is the most important stimulant neurotransmitter source involved in many brain functions, including learning and memory One advantage of this method is that it allows scientists to use human cells to analyze the phenomenon in a non-invasive way The researchers point out that the evidence and methods of this study can serve as a basis for other studies, including those aimed at finding new therapies that can improve the quality of life of patients with brain inflammation caused by infection or neurodegenerative diseases Sources of information: new student descriptions natural information processes in lab developed human cells original sources: Pablo Trindade et al, short and long TNF ‐ alpha exposure refractories canonical astrogliosis events in human ‐ induced pluripotent step cells ‐ derived astrocytes, glia (2020) Doi: 10.1002/glia.23786