for inter-cellular communication during innate immune responses, as discussed above (Figure 1). Reactive astrocytes can attract, instruct and corral inflammatory and immune cells (reviewed in detail elsewhere [32]). Multiple genetic deletion studies show that attenuating astrocyte reactivity disrupts CNS innate immune responses and leads to the spread of infection or inflammation [32], and CNS regional differences in astrocytes can contribute to regional differences in predisposition to West Nile virus infection in mice [92].
