In addition, given the fact that ALDH isoforms are key enzymes of alcohol metabolism (Edenberg, 2007), it is not surprising that they serve as the first line of defense in the brain from alcohol abuse and acetaldehyde toxicity. Mature astrocytes are known to express high levels of ALDH isoforms, making them active defenders of neurons from the detrimental effects of alcohol consumption. Thus, SNPs in ALDH enzymes and their role in astrocyte function must be considered for their neuroprotective role in the brain. Recent advances have enabled the generation of astrocytes from human iPS cells through multiple approaches involving either a chemically defined culture medium (Shaltouki, Peng, Liu, Rao, & Zeng, 2013) or a neural progenitor cell intermediate (TCW et al., 2017). These human iPS cell derived astrocytes have gene expression, morphological and functional characteristics which mimic that of primary astrocytes (Shaltouki et al., 2013; TCW et al., 2017). Given the reliable platforms for generating human astrocytes from patient derived stem cells, their use in modeling the role of SNPs in ALDH enzymes such as ALDH2 would yield new insight
