Intermediate Filaments in Astrocytes in Health and Disease.

Astroglial cells (Fig. 1) are the most abundant cells in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS), and we only now start to fully realize their importance both in health and disease. Upregulation of intermediate filaments (IFs) has been a well-known hallmark of astrocytes activated by a disease process. This chapter focuses on the function of IF proteins and IFs in astroglial cells both in health and in pathological situations, such as severe mechanical or osmotic stress, hypoxia, brain and spinal cord injury as well as in CNS regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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