Astrocytes in Migration

Cell migration is a fundamental phenomenon that underlies tissue morphogenesis, wound healing, immune response, and cancer metastasis. Great progresses have been made in research methodologies, with cell migration identified as a highly orchestrated process. Brain is considered the most complex organ in the human body, containing many types of neural cells with astrocytes playing crucial roles in monitoring normal functions of the central nervous system. Astrocytes are mostly quiescent under normal physiological conditions in the adult brain but become migratory after injury. Under most known pathological conditions in the brain, spinal cord and retina, astrocytes are activated and become hypertrophic, hyperplastic, and up-regulating GFAP based on the grades of severity. These three observations are the hallmark in glia scar formation-astrogliosis. The reactivation process is initiated with structural changes involving cell process migration and ended with cell migration. Detailed mechanisms in astrocyte migration have not been studied extensively and remain largely unknown. Here, we therefore attempt to review the mechanisms in migration of astrocytes.