Abstract
Although abnormal mitosis with disarranged metaphase chromosomes or many micronuclei in astrocytes (named "Alzheimer I type astrocytes" and later "Creutzfeldt-Peters cells") have been known for nearly 100 years, the origin and mechanisms of this pathology remain elusive. In experimental brain insults in rats, we show that abnormal mitoses that are not followed by cytokinesis are typical for reactive astrocytes. The pathology originates due to the inability of the cells to form normal mitotic spindles with subsequent metaphase chromosome congression, which, in turn may be due to shape constraints aggravated by cellular enlargement and to the accumulation of large amounts of cytosolic proteins. Many astrocytes escape from arrested mitosis by producing micronuclei. These polyploid astrocytes can survive for long periods of time and enter into new cell cycles.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 47 |
| Journal | Acta Neuropathologica Communications |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 15 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported in part by K08-NS048064 (GM) and a Klingenstein Foundation Fellowship (GM).
Funding Information:
Image processing and analysis for this work was performed in the Confocal and Specialized Microscopy Shared Resource of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University, supported by NIH grant #P30 CA013696 (National Cancer Institute).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s).
Keywords
- Astrocytes
- Creutzfeldt-Peters cells
- Mitosis
- Mitotic spindles
- Polyploidy