생화학분자생물학회

	Changjoon Justin Lee (cjl@ibs.re.kr)
	2018-present	Director, Center for Memory and Glioscience (formerly Center for Cognition and Sociality), Institute for Basic Science (IBS), South Korea
	2022-2024	Director General, Life Science Institute, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), South Korea
	2004-2018	Research Scientist, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), South Korea
	2001-2004	Post Doctoral Fellow, Department of Pharmacology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
	1991-2000	PhD, Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, USA
	1985-1990	BA in Chemistry, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

Curing the brain: in search for new astrocyte-specific therapies

Astroglia, an extended class of homeostatic and defensive cells of the central nervous system (CNS), contribute to the pathogenesis of all known neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. The pathophysiology of astrocytes is complex, mutable, disease and disease-stage specific. In neuroinflammatory lesions and in various chronic conditions, astrocytes undergo an evolutionary conserved defensive remodeling known as reactive astrogliosis, which produces highly heterogeneous reactive astrocytic phenotypes. Broadly, reactive astrogliosis can be classified into proliferative anysomorphic barrier-forming astrogliosis characteristic of traumatic CNS lesions and nonproliferative isomorphic gliosis widely manifested in chronic neuropathologies. In addition, in many pathologies, astrocytes undergo atrophy and asthenia with resulting loss of homeostatic support and neuroprotection precipitating neuronal damage. Reactive and atrophic astrocytes may coexist or emerge in sequence in a disease-stage-dependent manner. Several classes of astrocyte-specific molecules and processes implicated in various diseases of the CNS represent therapeutic targets. Astrocyte-specific therapeutic strategies may improve both disease-preventing and disease-modifying therapeutic outcomes.

Exp Mol Med. 2026 Apr;58(4):1086-1127. doi: 10.1038/s12276-026-01712-4.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4203220