Publication: Astrocyte heterogeneity and gliosis in Huntington’s disease: Histopathological insights into striatal and white matter pathology
Authors
Taylor Brown ; Rocio Gomez-Pastor ; Ross Pelzel
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Publisher
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.14670/HH-18-971
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info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Description
Abstract
Huntington’s disease (HD) is a devastating,
autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder
characterized by progressive motor dysfunction,
cognitive decline, and psychiatric disturbances. Among
the major pathological hallmarks of HD are mutant
huntingtin aggregation, white matter loss and reactive
astrogliosis, which together contribute to neuronal
dysfunction and death, particularly in the striatum and
cortex. Recent studies in HD mouse models have
identified a specialized astrocyte subtype that clusters
around white matter bundles originating from the
secondary cortex and passing through the striatum.
While the functional role of these astrocytes remains
unclear, they express Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein
(GFAP), a marker typically associated with both fibrous
and reactive astrocytes. The discovery of this white
matter-associated astrocyte subtype, along with other
astrocytic subtypes differing between grey and white
matter, underscores the complexity of glial responses in
HD. Accurate identification and interpretation of these
glial populations are crucial for understanding disease
mechanisms and progression. Given the overlapping
expression profiles of commonly used astrocyte markers
like GFAP, the careful selection and application of both
astrocyte and white matter markers in histopathological
analyses are essential to advance our understanding of
how glial cells contribute to HD pathology. In this
review we discuss different histopathological approaches
to assess the roles of glia in HD, emphasizing the need
for standardized approaches and critical evaluation of
marker specificity.
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