. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Dec 9.

Published in final edited form as: Transl Neurosci. 2013 Jun 1;4(2):10.2478/s13380-013-0118-1. doi: 10.2478/s13380-013-0118-1

Table 1. Astrocyte contribution to CNS pathology^*.

Astrocyte-mediated process	Molecules involved	Pathological effects	Disorder	References
Glutamate homeostasis	EAAT1 (GLAST) EAAT2 (GLT1)	Excitotoxicity	Epilepsy Trauma Stroke Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Huntington’s disease Alzheimer’s disease	94-98
Calcium signalling	AMPARs^** mGluRs	Excitatory and inhibitory actions on neurons	Migraine Epilepsy	99 and references therein
K⁺ and Na⁺ homeostasis	Kir4.1 and other Kir channels Na⁺, K⁺-ATPase	Spreading depression Neuronal hyperexcitability Edema	Stroke Migraine Epilepsy Trauma Cytotoxic edema Autism	100-103
Water homeostasis	Aquaporin-4	Edema	Trauma Ischemic edema Stroke	112,104,105
Cholesterol production	Niemann-Pick disease, type C1 (NPC1)	Oxidative stress Excessive deposition of cholesterol	Niemann-Pick disease	106,107
Long-range signalling	Cx30 Cx43	Spread of death and apoptotic signals	Stroke Epilepsy	70,108
Neuronal-glial signalling	GluR1-4 NR1,2,3 Purinergic P2 receptors (P2X_1/7)	Ca²⁺/Na⁺ overload Excitotoxicity	Trauma Stroke Neurodegeneration	75,109,110
Reactive astrocytosis and release of toxic substances	Nitric oxide Reactive oxigen species/SOD Inflammatory and apoptotic mediators	Neurotoxicity	Alzheimer’s disease Parkinson’s disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis	95,97,111

Infectious and tumoral diseases are not included in this table.

^**

α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid subtype glutamate receptors (AMPARs)

Table 1. Astrocyte contribution to CNS pathology*.