TY - JOUR
T1 - Immune and inflammatory responses in the CNS
T2 - Modulation by astrocytes
AU - Aschner, Michael
N1 - Funding Information:
This review was supported in part by grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Services ES 07331.
PY - 1998/12/28
Y1 - 1998/12/28
N2 - Because the skull bones, the cerebrospinal fluid, the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and the meninges effectively shield the central nervous system from other tissues, it was proposed that the brain is an 'immunologically privileged' organ. However, with recent evidence that in response to invasion by microorganisms, resident cells, such as astrocytes and microglia can fully mount an immune response, this long-standing view has been rethought and revised. Over the last two decades, both astrocytes and microglia have been shown to secrete numerous cytokines, and, therefore, it is presently widely accepted that these cells actively participate in an integrative communicative pathway between resident immune cells of the CNS and those of the periphery. While clearly implicated in the initiation, maintenance, and suppression of immune responses, cytokines produced by these cells (e.g. astrocytes and microglia), as well as the responses of these cells to cytokines produced elsewhere, has also been shown to propagate CNS damage. Therefore the potential involvement of these cells in neurodegenerative disorders has been raised and subjected to intense experimentation. The objective of this synopsis is to review the role played by astrocytes in the initiation and modulation of immune responses. Copyright (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
AB - Because the skull bones, the cerebrospinal fluid, the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and the meninges effectively shield the central nervous system from other tissues, it was proposed that the brain is an 'immunologically privileged' organ. However, with recent evidence that in response to invasion by microorganisms, resident cells, such as astrocytes and microglia can fully mount an immune response, this long-standing view has been rethought and revised. Over the last two decades, both astrocytes and microglia have been shown to secrete numerous cytokines, and, therefore, it is presently widely accepted that these cells actively participate in an integrative communicative pathway between resident immune cells of the CNS and those of the periphery. While clearly implicated in the initiation, maintenance, and suppression of immune responses, cytokines produced by these cells (e.g. astrocytes and microglia), as well as the responses of these cells to cytokines produced elsewhere, has also been shown to propagate CNS damage. Therefore the potential involvement of these cells in neurodegenerative disorders has been raised and subjected to intense experimentation. The objective of this synopsis is to review the role played by astrocytes in the initiation and modulation of immune responses. Copyright (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
KW - Astrocytes
KW - Cytokines
KW - Immune response
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=18144435991&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=18144435991&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/S0378-4274(98)00324-5
DO - 10.1016/S0378-4274(98)00324-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 10022267
AN - SCOPUS:18144435991
SN - 0378-4274
VL - 102-103
SP - 283
EP - 287
JO - Toxicology Letters
JF - Toxicology Letters
ER -