Recent Examples on the WebThe team has reported, for example, that the nutrient choline can correct lipid processing in cultured human astrocytes with APOE4.—Byjocelyn Kaiser, science.org, 12 Sep. 2024 The team also tested human astrocytes and neurons derived from Alzheimer’s patients.—Jon Hamilton, NPR, 2 Sep. 2024 Usually, astrocytes help provide energy to neurons, the cells that allow for learning and memory.—Jon Hamilton, NPR, 2 Sep. 2024 The researchers are currently investigating whether astrocytes produce other signals that influence the activity of NSCs.—New Atlas, 15 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for astrocyte
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'astrocyte.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from German Astrocyt (later Astrozyt), from astro-astro- + -cyt-cyte
Note:
The term was probably introduced by the Hungarian histologist Mihály (Michael von) Lenhossék (1863-1937) in Der feinere Bau des Nervensystems im Lichte neuester Forschungen, 2. Auflage (Berlin, 1895), p. 180.
especially: any comparatively large much-branched glial cell
Glia outnumber neurons in the human brain by a factor of 10 to one, and astrocytes are the most abundant type of glial cell. —Tina Hesman Saey, Science News
Astrocytes come in two main forms: fibrous astrocytes are found in the white matter and protoplasmic astrocytes in the gray matter.—Harold Kimelberg and Michael Norenberg, Scientific American
All gliomas, particularly the astrocytic neoplasms, are histologically, genetically, and thus therapeutically heterogeneous. —Lisa M. DeAngelis, The New England Journal of Medicine
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