The Role of Astrocytes in Human Diseases

Dear Colleagues,

Astrocytes are a prominent cellular component of the human brain that have diverse subtypes and multiple roles in healthy brain function. Any changes to gene expression, physiology, and morphology of astrocytes have the potential to produce human disease. Astrocyte involvement has been implicated in almost every neurological condition and even some human disorders that most prominently affect other organ systems. Rapid development of new models of human disease has created the need for research and communication of new concepts that connect astrocytes to human health disorders. Over the past five years, new microscopy technology, genome engineering methods, vast new “omics” data collections, tissue engineering, and induced pluripotent stem cell technology have revealed completely novel mechanisms by which astrocytes might support healthy brain function or contribute to disease initiation or progression. For the Special Issue proposed for “The Role of Astrocytes in Human Diseases”, we seek expert reviews that communicate the latest information on astrocytes and health and original research articles about astrocytes with implications for human disease.

Dr. Randy Stout
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• astrocytes
• glia
• health and disease
• neurodegeneration
• traumatic brain injury
• epilepsy
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Parkinson’s disease
• neurodevelopment
• tripartite synapse