Thesis
Developing a distinct profile of senescent astrocytes
Master of Science (M.S.), Drexel University
May 2026
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00011530
Abstract
Aging is a phenomenon that affects everyone and is a precursor to many degenerative diseases. To better understand the onset of these degenerative diseases, it is vital to understand the processes underlying aging, and an increasingly recognized component of aging and age-related dysfunction is senescence. Senescence is a programed cell state that can promote wound healing and tissue repair in some contexts but promote an inflammatory environment in others. Senescence in the brain is considered a major promotion of inflammation and one of the most abundant cells in the brain are astrocytes. Our lab has shown that astrocytes become senescent through age, but this phenotype is not well defined. Additionally, astrocytes can also become reactive with age. There is little delineation between these two phenotypes, making it difficult to understand their effect on aging and neurodegenerative diseases. Here we show that senescent astrocytes have a distinct transcriptome from healthy astrocytes but retain functional phenotypes such as neuronal support. Comparatively, reactive astrocytes show a loss of function in neuronal support, indicating this is a major distinction between the two phenotypes.
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Details
- Title
- Developing a distinct profile of senescent astrocytes
- Creators
- Sabina B. Knox
- Contributors
- Christian Sell (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Master of Science (M.S.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University
- Number of pages
- 55 pages
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; College of Medicine; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991022202260304721