Figure 2.

Schematic illustration showing how ASPD secretion from the excitatory neurons induces neuronal loss and vascular pathologies. In response to central nervous system (CNS) damage, astrocytic NKAα2 level was upregulated and contributed to astrogliosis [59]. The activated astrocytes then secreted more proinflammatory protein lipocalin-2 (Lcn-2) to neurons, causing neurons to uptake more extracellular tau and resulting in the formation of the neurofibrillary tangles [59].