Astrocytes and Microglia in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Lessons from Human in Vitro Models

Overview

Journal Prog Neurobiol

Specialty Neurology

Date 2020 Dec 14

PMID 33309801

Citations 20

Authors

Hannah Franklin

Benjamin E Clarke

Rickie Patani

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Both astrocytes and microglia fulfil homeostatic and immune functions in the healthy CNS. Dysfunction of these cell types have been implicated in the pathomechanisms of several neurodegenerative diseases. Understanding the cellular autonomy and early pathological changes in these cell types may inform drug screening and therapy development. While animal models and post-mortem tissue have been invaluable in understanding disease processes, the advent of human in vitro models provides a unique insight into disease biology as a manipulable model system obtained directly from patients. Here, we discuss the different human in vitro models of astrocytes and microglia and outline the phenotypes that have been recapitulated in these systems.

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