A1 astrocytes contribute to disease pathology via mechanisms such as oxidative stress in stroke (Sun et al., 2025; Wang et al., 2024), Excitatory amino acid transporter 2 (EAAT2) dysfunction in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) (Rosenblum et al., 2017), D-serine-mediated N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) potentiation in chronic pain (Sethuraman et al., 2009), C3-driven synapse loss in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) (Wen et al., 2024), and neurotoxin release in HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) (Lun et al., 2023). Here, SLC1A2 is linked to HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder.