Aspects of astrocytic cAMP signaling with an emphasis on the putative power of compartmentalized signals in health and disease.

This review discusses aspects of known and putative compartmentalized 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) signaling in astrocytes, a cell type that has turned out to be a key player in brain physiology and pathology. cAMP has attracted less attention than Ca in recent years, but could turn out to rival Ca in its potential to drive cellular functions and responses to intra- and extracellular cues. Further, Ca and cAMP are known to engage in extensive crosstalk and cAMP signals often take place within subcellular compartments revolving around multi-protein signaling complexes; however, we know surprisingly little about this in astrocytes.

Glycogen Shunt Activity and Glycolytic Supercompensation in Astrocytes May Be Distinctly Mediated via the Muscle Form of Glycogen Phosphorylase.

Glycogen is the main storage form of glucose in the brain. In contrast with previous beliefs, brain glycogen has recently been shown to play important roles in several brain functions. A fraction of metabolized glucose molecules are being shunted through glycogen before reentering the glycolytic pathway, a phenomenon known as the glycogen shunt.

Soluble CD163 as a marker of macrophage activity in newly diagnosed patients with multiple sclerosis.

Background: Soluble CD163 (sCD163) is a macrophage specific protein known to be up-regulated in serum from patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Objective: To investigate sCD163 in serum and CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) from patients undergoing MS diagnostic work-up and analyse its potential as a diagnostic biomarker.

Methods: After a full MS diagnostic work-up, including collection of paired samples of CSF and serum, 183 patients were evaluated for inclusion in this study.