{"id":75,"date":"2025-11-13T10:13:28","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T18:13:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insidemultisite.salk.edu\/spring-2026\/?p=75"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:44:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T01:44:11","slug":"how-do-astrocytes-contribute-to-fragile-x-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inside.salk.edu\/fall-2026\/how-do-astrocytes-contribute-to-fragile-x-syndrome\/","title":{"rendered":"How do astrocytes contribute to fragile X syndrome?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary><em>NATURE COMMUNICATIONS\u00a0<\/em><br><em>04\/2026\u00a0<\/em><\/summary>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<p>Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is an inherited genetic developmental condition that strongly impacts brain development. Its symptoms are broad and highly variable, and there is currently no cure. Existing treatments are limited to medications and therapies to help manage symptoms. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/scientist\/nicola-allen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nicola Allen, PhD<\/a>, and team recently discovered how star-shaped brain cells called astrocytes contribute to some FXS symptoms. They found that a protein pathway commonly upregulated in FXS astrocytes could be suppressed to lessen those symptoms, meaning less severe seizures and restored molecular balances in a mouse model of FXS. The findings validate the importance of studying astrocytes in FXS research and represent a promising step toward future therapeutics for FXS and other developmental conditions, such as Down syndrome and Rett syndrome.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/news-release\/how-do-astrocytes-contribute-to-fragile-x-syndrome\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read news release<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is an inherited genetic developmental condition that strongly impacts brain development. Its symptoms are broad and highly variable, and there is currently no cure. Existing treatments are limited to medications and therapies to help manage symptoms. Nicola Allen, PhD, and team recently discovered how star-shaped brain cells called astrocytes contribute to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discoveries","category-neuroscience"],"blocksy_meta":{"has_hero_section":"enabled","hero_section":"type-2","page_structure_type":"type-3","styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"[data-prefix=\"single_blog_post\"] .entry-header .page-title {--theme-font-size:30px;} [data-prefix=\"single_blog_post\"] .entry-header .entry-meta {--theme-font-weight:600;--theme-text-transform:uppercase;--theme-font-size:12px;--theme-line-height:1.3;} [data-prefix=\"single_blog_post\"] .hero-section[data-type=\"type-2\"] {background-color:var(--theme-palette-color-6);background-image:none;--container-padding:50px 0px;}","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":{"Albert Sans":["n4","n6"]},"version":6}},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How do astrocytes contribute to fragile X syndrome? - Inside Salk | Fall 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/inside.salk.edu\/fall-2026\/how-do-astrocytes-contribute-to-fragile-x-syndrome\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How do astrocytes contribute to fragile X syndrome? - Inside Salk | Fall 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is an inherited genetic developmental condition that strongly impacts brain development. 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