astrocyte

American  

[as-truh-sahyt] / ˈæs trəˌsaɪt /

noun

Cell Biology.

1. a star-shaped neuroglial cell of ectodermal origin.

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astrocyte British  

/ ˈæstrəʊˌsaɪt /

noun

1. any of the star-shaped cells in the tissue supporting the brain and spinal cord (neuroglia)

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astrocyte Scientific  

/ ăs′trə-sīt′ /

1. A star-shaped cell, especially one of the glial cells that support the tissue of the central nervous system.

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Other Word Forms

• astrocytic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of astrocyte

First recorded in 1895–1900; astro- + -cyte

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

astrocyte

The team found that increasing levels of Sox9, a protein that plays a major role in regulating astrocyte activity during aging, significantly improved these cells' ability to remove amyloid plaques.

From Science Daily ● May 2, 2026

Increasing Sox9 produced the opposite outcome, enhancing astrocyte activity, improving their structural complexity and promoting plaque removal.

From Science Daily ● May 2, 2026

When astrocyte signaling was disrupted, neurons struggled to form the normal activity patterns linked to fear.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 4, 2026

When the team administered the S3QEL compound to mice engineered to model frontotemporal dementia, they observed reduced astrocyte activation, lower levels of inflammatory gene expression, and a decrease in a tau modification linked to dementia.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2025

Using this method, Tsai and Murdock's team saw that gamma sensory stimulation indeed promoted changes consistent with increased astrocyte AQP4 activity.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 28, 2024