REVIEW article
Front. Cell. Neurosci.
Sec. Non-Neuronal Cells
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fncel.2025.1650326
This article is part of the Research TopicFrom astrocytic calcium signaling to synaptic resilience: emerging insights in pathology and physiologyView all articles
Astrocyte alterations in α-synucleinopathies
Provisionally accepted
- 1Universidade de Vigo Centro de Investigacion en Nanomateriais e Biomedicina, Vigo, Spain
- 2Instituto de Investigacion Sanitaria Galicia Sur, Vigo, Spain
- 3Universidade de Vigo Departamento de Bioloxia Funcional e Ciencias da Saude, Vigo, Spain
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Despite long being considered to be passive and supportive cells, in the last decades astrocytes have arisen as key regulators of neuronal excitability, synaptic transmission and plasticity. Since the discovery of the tripartite synapse, accumulating evidence suggests that astrocytes are involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, including αsynucleinopathies. Here we will discuss recent evidence showing that astrocytes express endogenous α-synuclein and the implications of this protein in astrocyte cellular processes. Furthermore, we review how the expression of pathological forms of this protein in astrocytes leads to aberrant cytosolic Ca 2+ activity in these cells and to alterations in gliotransmission and pathology progression.
Keywords: Astrocytes, tripartite synapse, α-Synuclein, α-synucleinopathies, gliotransmission
Received: 19 Jun 2025; Accepted: 25 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Rodríguez-Castañeda, Campos-Ríos, Lamas and Covelo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ana Covelo, Universidade de Vigo Centro de Investigacion en Nanomateriais e Biomedicina, Vigo, Spain
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