Astrocytes are important glial cells involved in the ionic regulation of the extracellular fluid in the Central Nervous System (CNS), the formation of the blood brain barrier (BBB) and the support to neurons for the maintenance of the Krebs cycle intermediaries. Even though these cells are known to be important for the brain functioning, several of their functions and their development have not been fully elucidated. In this context, identifying the algorithms used for their analysis plays a pivotal role in the development of new strategies in the study of astrocytes. The main objective of this review is to summarize the techniques that have helped to obtain transcriptomic data in astrocytes and the new algorithms that were used to perform the analysis of experimental data, elucidating new studies in which these had been used. We also highlight the current transcriptomics approaches targeting astrocytes function as a possible target for pharmacological interventions.

In 2009 in two foreign medical editions the detailed biography of professor N.K.Kulchitsky (1856 — 1925) has been first published. N.K.Kulchitsky, the world famous Russian scientist, histologist, professor, Senator and the last Minister of education of Imperial Russia, in 1912-1914 was the director of Kazan educational district to which Saratov University also belonged at that time. V.V. Golubinov — one of the publications authors, the great-grandson of N.K.Kulchitsky, graduate of Saratov University n.a. N.G.Chernyshevsky, psychologist and designer-schedule is the author of the emblem of Saratov Medical University which decorates our journal's cover narrates about his great-grandfather
В.В. Голубинов Kulchitsky's Casus: Materials To The Biography Of Professor N.K. Kulchitsky // Saratov Journal of Medical Scientific Research, Vol. 5, Issue 3, 2009, pp. 454-463