Human astrocyte regulation in normal and epileptic brain

Comparative genomics of isolated astrocytes and their environment

Astrocytes are capable or glutamate release from extrasynaptic sources and can initiate paroxysmal depolarization shifts that drives synchronous neuronal bursting in epilepsy (Tian et al., 2005). In order to understand those signaling pathways that become disregulated in epileptogenic astrocytes we are using a genomics approach to profile GFAP:GFP FACS-isolated astrocytes from normal and epileptic rodent brain. In a a similar manner to our projects involving human oligodendrocyte progenitor and neural progenitor cells of the adult human brain, we are examining the cell signaling pathways whose expression are differentially regulated in the astrocytic component of epileptic brain.