Atlas One · Host Biology · Scale 04 — Cellular

Astrocyte

Star-shaped glial cell; most abundant CNS cell type. Provides metabolic support (lactate shuttle), clears synaptic glutamate, buffers K⁺, maintains the blood-brain barrier via AQP4 endfeet, and forms the tripartite synapse.

Also known as: astroglia, fibrous astrocyte, protoplasmic astrocyte, reactive astrocyte, Bergmann glia

Scale 04 — CellularScale
draftStatus
2026-06-05Last Reviewed
This is an auto-generated stub page built from atlas entry frontmatter. A richer hand-crafted page is planned. See the atlas source for the full entry including detailed body sections.
astrocyte

Astrocyte

Star-shaped glial cell; most abundant CNS cell type. Provides metabolic support (lactate shuttle), clears synaptic glutamate, buffers K⁺, maintains the blood-brain barrier via AQP4 endfeet, and forms the tripartite synapse.