The difference in gliosis induced by β-amyloid and Tau treatments in astrocyte cultures derived from senescence accelerated and normal mouse strains

Astrocytes react to various neurodegenerative insults rapidly and undergo changes known as gliosis or astrogliosis. In Alzheimer's disease (AD), a wall of reactive astrocytes surrounds senile plaques of beta-amyloid (A beta) and might play an important role in clearing of A beta. AD is neuropathologically characterized by the co-existence of two pathological structures, senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles composed of A beta and Tau protein respectively. However, the molecular mechanisms underlie astrogliosis and increased expressions of GFAP and other astrogliosis markers are poorly understood. Since AD is age related, the aim of this study is to compare the gliosis of aging prone astrocytes cultured from senescence-accelerated mice and astrocytes from normal mice in response to A beta and Tau treatment. Our results demonstrated that the aging prone astrocytes have showed larger degree of gliosis than normal astrocytes. Since reactive astrocytes had less ability to support co-cultured neurons as compared with control astrocytes. Therefore, it is likely that aging prone astrocytes might contribute to cell loss or dysfunction associated with insults in AD. In other words, aging prone astrocytes might have decreased ability than normal astrocytes to protect or prevent neuronal dysfunction in AD pathology. In addition, further AD related studies should use aging prone astrocytes instead of normal astrocytes.