Reactive Astrocytes: Phenotypic and Functional Characteristics and Astrocytes as Neural Stem Cells

Injury to the CNS elicits a rapid response from the injured environment. The most significant response is that from astrocytes which undergo an activation process and become reactive astrocytes. This causes phenotypic as well as functional changes to maintain the tissue integrity, protect adjacent areas, and enable repair processes. However, this process does impede axonal regeneration. Additionally, astrocytes clearly demonstrate the self-renewing multipotential. The function of glial dedifferentiation lends itself to increased study. Emerging data suggests glial cells must dedifferentiate to an astrocyte-like morphology before becoming capable of neural generation.