Defining the Role of Astrocytes in Neuromodulation

Astrocytes undergo elevations in intracellular calcium following activation of metabotropic receptors, which may trigger glutamate secretion and excitation of surrounding neurons. In this issue of Neuron, Fiacco et al. use transgenic mice that express a foreign G(q)-coupled receptor in astrocytes to show that selective stimulation of astrocytes is not sufficient to induce the release of glutamate.

[1]  A. Zima,et al.  Endothelin-1–Induced Arrhythmogenic Ca2+ Signaling Is Abolished in Atrial Myocytes of Inositol-1,4,5-Trisphosphate(IP3)–Receptor Type 2–Deficient Mice , 2005, Circulation research.

[2]  H. Parri,et al.  Spontaneous astrocytic Ca2+ oscillations in situ drive NMDAR-mediated neuronal excitation , 2001, Nature Neuroscience.

[3]  K. Zahs,et al.  Modulation of Neuronal Activity by Glial Cells in the Retina , 1998, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[4]  G. Carmignoto,et al.  Astrocyte control of synaptic transmission and neurovascular coupling. , 2006, Physiological reviews.

[5]  Is the Movement Representation in the Motor Cortex a Moving Target? , 2007, Neuron.

[6]  G. G. Stokes.  "J." , 1890, The New Yale Book of Quotations.

[7]  David J. Anderson,et al.  A Diverse Family of GPCRs Expressed in Specific Subsets of Nociceptive Sensory Neurons , 2001, Cell.

[8]  Cathryn L. Kubera,et al.  Astrocytic Purinergic Signaling Coordinates Synaptic Networks , 2005, Science.

[9]  Grant R. Gordon,et al.  Norepinephrine triggers release of glial ATP to increase postsynaptic efficacy , 2005, Nature Neuroscience.

[10]  A. Araque,et al.  Glutamate‐dependent astrocyte modulation of synaptic transmission between cultured hippocampal neurons , 1998, The European journal of neuroscience.

[11]  T. Takano,et al.  Astrocytic Ca2+ signaling evoked by sensory stimulation in vivo , 2006, Nature Neuroscience.

[12]  Todd A Fiacco,et al.  Selective Stimulation of Astrocyte Calcium In Situ Does Not Affect Neuronal Excitatory Synaptic Activity , 2007, Neuron.

[13]  Khaleel Bhaukaurally,et al.  Glutamate exocytosis from astrocytes controls synaptic strength , 2007, Nature Neuroscience.

[14]  G. Buzsáki,et al.  Calcium Dynamics of Cortical Astrocytic Networks In Vivo , 2004, PLoS biology.

[15]  Todd A Fiacco,et al.  Intracellular Astrocyte Calcium Waves In Situ Increase the Frequency of Spontaneous AMPA Receptor Currents in CA1 Pyramidal Neurons , 2004, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[16]  D. Wilkin,et al.  Neuron , 2001, Brain Research.

[17]  S. Goldman,et al.  Astrocyte-mediated potentiation of inhibitory synaptic transmission , 1998, Nature Neuroscience.