. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Nov 6.

Published in final edited form as: Toxicol Pathol. 2010 Nov 12;39(1):115–123. doi: 10.1177/0192623310385254

TABLE 1.—

Major functions of astrocytes.

References
Production and release of growth factor	Raff et al. (1988); Rudge (1993)
NGF, BDNF, FGF-2, PDGF, GDNF, TGFp	Raff et al. (1988); Rudge (1993)
Regulation of extracellular environment	Norenberg (1987); Walz (1989); Copin, Ledig, and Tholey (1992); Ransom and Sontheimer (1992); Makar et al. (1994)
Homeostasis of H⁺
Detoxification of ammonia
Free radical scavenging
K⁺ buffering
Support for neurons	Schousboe (1981); Cataldo and Broadwell (1986); Martin (1992); Wang and Cynader (2000); Shanker et al. (2001)
Supply of TCA cycle intermediates
Neurotransmitter uptake
Maintenance of stable GSH levels

NGF, nerve growth factor; BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor; FGF-2, fibroblast growth factor 2; PDGF, platelet-derived growth factor; GDNF, glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor; TGFβ, transforming growth factor beta; TCA, the citric acid cycle.