Reactive astrogliosis is a reaction of astrocytes to disturbed homeostasis in the central nervous system (CNS), accompanied by changes in astrocyte numbers, morphology, and function. Reactive astrocytes are important in the onset and progression of many neuropathologies, such as neurotrauma, stroke, and neurodegenerative diseases. Single-cell transcriptomics has revealed remarkable heterogeneity of reactive astrocytes, indicating their multifaceted functions in a whole spectrum of neuropathologies, with important temporal and spatial resolution, both in the brain and in the spinal cord. Interestingly, transcriptomic signatures of reactive astrocytes partially overlap between neurological diseases, suggesting shared and unique gene expression patterns in response to individual neuropathologies. In the era of single-cell transcriptomics, the number of new datasets steeply increases, and they often benefit from comparisons and integration with previously published work. Here, we provide an overview of reactive astrocyte populations defined by single-cell or single-nucleus transcriptomics across multiple neuropathologies, attempting to facilitate the search for relevant reference points and to improve the interpretability of new datasets containing cells with signatures of reactive astrocytes.

Department of Cellular Neurophysiology Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences Prague Czechia

Department of Translational Neuroscience University Medical Centre Utrecht Brain Centre Utrecht University Utrecht Netherlands

Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Czechia

Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health Parkville VIC Australia

Laboratory of Astrocyte Biology and CNS Regeneration Center for Brain Repair Department of Clinical Neuroscience Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg Gothenburg Sweden

Laboratory of Gene Expression Institute of Biotechnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences Vestec Czechia

TATAA Biocenter AB Gothenburg Sweden

University of Newcastle Newcastle NSW Australia

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Front Cell Neurosci. 2023 May 15;17:1212975. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2023.1212975. PubMed

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