Astrocytes, emerging stars of energy homeostasis
Authors:Simonetta Camandola1
1 Laboratory of Neurosciences, National Institute on Aging, Intramural Research Program, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Keywords:
astrocytes, hypothalamus, metabolism.
Abbreviations:
ApoE – apolipoprotein E,
ERa – estrogen receptor alpha,
GABA – γ-aminobutyric acid.
Corresponding Author(s):
Conflict of interest statement:
The author declares no conflict of interest.
Please cite this article as:
Simonetta Camandola (2018). Astrocytes, emerging stars of energy homeostasis. Cell Stress 2(10): 246-252. doi: 10.15698/cst2018.10.157
© 2018 Camandola. This is an open-access article released under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which allows the unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are acknowledged.
Abstract:
Astrocytes have historically been considered structural supporting cells for neurons. Thanks to new molecular tools, allowing specific cell ablation or over-expression of genes, new unexpected astrocytic functions have recently been unveiled. This review focus on emerging groundbreaking findings showing that hypothalamic astrocytes are pivotal for the regulation of whole body energy homeostasis. Hypothalamic astrocytes sense glucose and fatty acids, and express receptors for several peripheral hormones such as leptin and insulin. Furthermore, they display striking sexual dimorphism which may account, at least partially, for gender specific differences in energy homeostasis. Metabolic alterations have been shown to influence the initiation and progression of many neurodegenerative disorders. A better understanding of the roles and interplay between the different brain cells in regulating energy homeostasis could help develop new therapeutic strategies to prevent or cure neurodegenerative disorders.