SRF is required for maintenance of astrocytes in non-reactive state in the mammalian brain

Astrocytes play several critical roles in the normal functioning of the mammalian brain, including ion homeostasis, synapse formation, and synaptic plasticity. Following injury and infection or in the setting of neurodegeneration, astrocytes become hypertrophic and reactive, a process termed astrogliosis. Although acute reactive gliosis is beneficial in limiting further tissue damage, chronic gliosis becomes detrimental for neuronal recovery and regeneration. Several extracellular factors have been identified that generate reactive astrocytes; however, very little is known about the cell-autonomous transcriptional mechanisms that regulate the maintenance of astrocytes in the normal non-reactive state. Here, we show that conditional deletion of the stimulus-dependent transcription factor, serum response factor (SRF) in astrocytes