CELL-CULTURE MODELS FOR REACTIVE GLIOSIS - NEW PERSPECTIVES

Reactive gliosis, which occurs in response to any damage or disturbanc e to the central nervous system, has been recognized for many years, b ut is still not completely understood, The hallmark is the increased e xpression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), yet studies in GF AP knockout mice suggest that GFAP may not be required for an astrocyt e to become hypertrophic. In this review, we describe a series of tiss ue culture models that have been established in order to address: 1) t he biochemical phenotype of reactive astrocytes; 2) the factor and/or cell responsible for induction of gliosis; 3) the mechanisms by which one might block the induction, These models range from cultures of ast rocytes, both neonatal and adult, to co-cultures of astrocytes with ei ther neurons or microglia, to organ cultures, None is ideal: each addr esses a different set of questions, but taken together, they are begin ning to provide useful information which should allow a better underst anding of the plasticity response of astrocytes to brain injury. (C) 1 998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.