Alzheimer Type I Astrocytes: Still Mysterious Cells

Over 100 years ago, von Hösslein and Alzheimer described enlarged and multinucleated astrocytes in the brains of patients with Wilson disease. These odd astrocytes, now well known to neuropathologists, are present in a large variety of neurological disorders, and yet the mechanisms underlying their generation and their functional attributes are still not well understood. They undergo abnormal mitoses and fail to accomplish cytokinesis, resulting in multinucleation. Oxidative stress, hypoxia, and inflammation may be contributing pathologies to generate these astrocytes. The abnormal mitoses occur from changes in cell shape, the accumulation of cytoplasmic proteins, and the mislocalization of many of the important molecules whose coordination is necessary for proper mitotic spindle formation. Modern technologies will be able to characterize their abnormalities and solve century old questions of their form and function.