Astrocyte Autophagy in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Current Progress in Mechanisms and Therapeutics

Abstract

Astrocytes, the most abundant and functionally diverse glial cell type in the brain, play a crucial role in maintaining cellular homeostasis and promoting neuronal survival. Autophagy is the process of transferring senescent, denatured, or damaged proteins and organelles from cells to lysosomes for degradation. However, recent research on autophagy in the central nervous system has focused on neurons. In this paper, we reviewed the latest findings on astrocyte autophagy and its mechanisms in regulating neurodegenerative disorders. It influences the pathological processes of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and other synucleinopathies (including dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson’s disease dementia) by regulating oxidative stress and inflammatory responses, as well as aberrant protein aggregation and folding. Furthermore, we listed medications that can prevent or treat neurodegenerative disorders by modulating astrocyte autophagy pathways, providing new insights into preventive and therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative diseases.