Abstract
Astrocytes respond to chemical, electrical and mechanical stimuli with transient increases in intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i). We now show that astrocytes in situ display intrinsic [Ca2+]i oscillations that are not driven by neuronal activity. These spontaneous astrocytic oscillations can propagate as waves to neighboring astrocytes and trigger slowly decaying NMDA receptor-mediated inward currents in neurons located along the wave path. These findings show that astrocytes in situ can act as a primary source for generating neuronal activity in the mammalian central nervous system.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 803-812 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Nature Neuroscience |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Aug 2001 |
Keywords
- Vimentin
- thalamus
- astrocytes
- biological clocks
- calcium channel blockers
- calcium signaling
- central nervous system
- enzyme inhibitors
- excitatory amino acid antagonists
- GABA antagonists
- immunohistochemistry
- isoquinolines
- lysine
- magnesium
- membrane potentials
- neurons
- patch-clamp techniques
- tetrodotoxin
- N-Methyl-D-Aspartate receptors
- synaptic transmission