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Astrocyte
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The astrocyte is a type of glial cell, meaning one of the cells of the nervous system that are not neurons. In fact astrocytes are most of the cells in the central nervous system, which is the brain and the spinal cord.
Its name comes from its shape. Processes come off the cell body in every direction, like the rays of a star, and those processes are marked by a protein called glial fibrillary acidic protein, which is what is used to recognize them in the laboratory.
What it does is maintenance, of several kinds at once. It clears away excess neurotransmitters, which cannot be left to build up; they are the substances one neuron uses to speak to another. It stabilizes and regulates the blood brain barrier, the filter that decides what passes from the blood into the brain. And it supports the formation of synapses, the contact points where neurons communicate. The astrocyte does not conduct electrical signals: it is the support for the tissue that does conduct them.
In brief
The astrocyte is a type of glial cell and makes up most of the cells in the central nervous system.
It handles metabolic, structural and homeostatic jobs: it clears excess neurotransmitters, stabilizes and regulates the blood brain barrier and supports the formation of synapses.
Unlike the neuron it does not conduct electrical signals, and its radial processes, labeled by glial fibrillary acidic protein, give it the star shape it is named for.
It is the support for the tissue that does conduct the signal.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingHistology, Astrocytes, StatPearlsPublished
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