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Review
. 2010 May;63(1-2):2-10.
doi: 10.1016/j.brainresrev.2009.12.001. Epub 2009 Dec 11.

Heterogeneity in astrocyte morphology and physiology

Vitali Matyash  1 , Helmut Kettenmann
Affiliations
Review

Heterogeneity in astrocyte morphology and physiology

Vitali Matyash et al. Brain Res Rev. 2010 May.

Abstract

Astrocytes as a cell population are not well defined and comprise a heterogeneous population of cells. There are at least 9 different morphological variants which can coexist within one given brain region. Human astrocytes have a considerably more complex morphology as their rodent counterparts. There are also a number of functional differences depending on brain region and developmental stage in the normal (not pathologic) brain. Astrocytes can differ in functional gap junctional coupling, expression of transmitter receptors, membrane currents, and glutamate transporters. We feel that astrocyte heterogeneity has not yet been thoroughly explored and what we report here will just be a beginning of a new field of research.

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