Astrocytes are morphologically complex, ubiquitous cells that are viewed as a homogeneous population tiling the entire central nervous system (CNS). However, this view has been challenged in the last few years with the availability of RNA sequencing, immunohistochemistry, electron microscopy, morphological reconstruction, and imaging data. These studies suggest that astrocytes represent a diverse population of cells and that they display brain area- and disease-specific properties and functions. In this review, we summarize these observations, emphasize areas where clear conclusions can be made, and discuss potential unifying themes. We also identify knowledge gaps that need to be addressed in order to exploit astrocyte diversity as a biological phenomenon of physiological relevance in the CNS. We thus provide a summary and a perspective on astrocyte diversity in the vertebrate CNS.

中文翻译：

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星形胶质细胞多样性的新兴性质。

星形胶质细胞是形态复杂的无处不在的细胞，被视为覆盖整个中枢神经系统（CNS）的同质种群。但是，近几年来，随着RNA测序，免疫组织化学，电子显微镜，形态重建和成像数据的可用性，这一观点受到了挑战。这些研究表明，星形胶质细胞代表着多种细胞，它们显示出大脑区域和疾病特有的特性和功能。在这篇综述中，我们总结了这些观察结果，强调了可以得出明确结论的领域，并讨论了潜在的统一主题。我们还确定了将星形胶质细胞多样性作为中枢神经系统生理学相关生物学现象所需要解决的知识空白。