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Abstract  Proteasome inhibition has been observed in many neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Here, the effect of proteasome inhibition on the morphology of cultured rat cortical astrocytes was investigated. Increasing evidence suggests that the function of astrocytes is related closely to its morphology. Lactacystin, a specific inhibitor of the 20S proteasome, can induce astrocytes stellation in a dose dependent manner and reorganize the cytoskeleton of astrocytes. Furthermore, decreased levels of expression of Rho A, total Akt, and Phospho-Akt were found in the process of astrocytes stellation and lysophosphatidic acid, an activator of Rho A, can largely reverse the astrocytes stellation caused by lactacystin. This suggests that proteasome inhibition in astrocytes could stabilize signals of morphological changes that might be processed through Rho and Akt signaling cascade. Our results suggest that proteasome inhibition might function as a factor regulating astrocytes morphology in some pathophysiological conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]