Stimulation of astrocyte proliferation by purine and pyrimidine nucleotides and nucleosides

Proliferation of brain astrocytes as a result of cell death has been well documented in vivo. Dying cells release purine and pyrimidine nucleosides and nucleotides and their deoxy derivatives both from soluble intracellular pools and from DNA and RNA. Previously, we have observed that purine nucleosides and nucleotides stimulate chick astrocyte proliferation in vitro. To further our analysis, we questioned whether pyrimidines or the deoxy …