HETEROGENEITY AMONG ASTROCYTES IN REACTIVE GLIOSIS

Reactive gliosis has been considered to be the major cause of regenera tive failure of the mature mammalian central nervous system (CNS). It is classically defined by increased glial fibrillary acidic protein ex pression. However, the response to injury is not uniform throughout th e CNS. This heterogeneity is becoming more apparent as other markers f or reactive astrocytes emerge from recent studies. These molecules may be more relevant markers of the functional state of reactive astrocyt es and may help us understand the events leading to failure of regener ation in the CNS.