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Astrocytes and Parkinson’s Disease

Non-neuronal contributions to a classically neuronal disorder.

The Nirva InstitutePublished 20266 min read
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Parkinson’s disease is defined by the loss of midbrain dopamine neurons. Astrocytes may contribute to both the vulnerability of those neurons and the progression of pathology.

§ 1

Astrocyte dysfunction and α-synuclein

Astrocytes can take up and accumulate α-synuclein, and their dysfunction may influence neuronal vulnerability.200


§ 2

Neuroinflammation

Reactive astrocytes participate in the inflammatory environment surrounding degenerating dopaminergic neurons.189,190



Scientific References

Primary literature

AMA numeric style. Citation numbers are unified across the Nirva Life ecosystem — the same number refers to the same reference across every library article. Full registry is anchored in the Cornerstone Paper.

  1. 189.Liddelow SA, Guttenplan KA, Clarke LE, et al. Neurotoxic reactive astrocytes are induced by activated microglia. Nature. 2017;541(7638):481-487. PubMed ↗
  2. 190.Escartin C, Galea E, Lakatos A, et al. Reactive astrocyte nomenclature, definitions, and future directions. Nat Neurosci. 2021;24(3):312-325. PubMed ↗
  3. 200.Booth HDE, Hirst WD, Wade-Martins R. The role of astrocyte dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis. Trends Neurosci. 2017;40(6):358-370. PubMed ↗

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