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Published on: October 21, 2017
Mechanisms Underlying Astrocyte Endfeet Swelling in Stroke
1Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan, Room 5018, BSRB, Ann Arbor, 48109-2200, MI, USA.
Abstract:
Astrocyte endfeet envelop the cerebral capillaries that form the blood-brain barrier. Swelling of these endfeet occurs early in cerebral ischemia. It is generally hypothesized that such swelling occurs as the result of factors released from parenchymal brain cells during an ischemic stroke (e.g., K(+) and L-glutamate). In this review of mechanisms that can elicit astrocyte swelling in ischemic stroke, we hypothesize that, instead or in addition, such swelling may be a response to blood-brain barrier dysfunction. Astrocyte endfeet swelling may help form a cuff around a damaged vessel that limits the egress of plasma constituents and blood (hemorrhage) into brain.
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