Reciprocal neuron-astrocyte signaling in epileptic seizure generation and propagation
Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: The idea that astrocytes – the main population of glial cells in the brain – are active partners of neurons in many aspects of brain functions represented a Copernican Revolution in neurobiology. Astrocytes, which were for many years considered just like the cement (from Greek glia i.e. glue) that keeps neuronal cells together, have now been moved from the periphery to the centre of the universe of information processing in the brain providing a radically different point of observation in the study of brain physiology. This new view of brain activity turns around the discovery of a bidirectional communication between neurons and astrocytes, a process called gliotransmission. Astrocytes respond to neurotransmitters and through a Ca2+ dependent mechanism release neuroactive substances that induce functional changes in neurons. In spite of the resistances opposed against the desertion of the neuronal dogma, a large amount of evidence collected during the last three decades contributed to reshape the concept of synaptic communication, considering astrocytes - together with the pre- and post- synaptic membranes - a fundamental element of the tripartite synapse. In other words, astrocytes participate transversally to information processing in the brain by modulating both synaptic transmission and different forms of plasticity. This new consciousness of astrocytes as active elements in brain physiology, naturally suggests that these glial cell can potentially be involved in the development of brain disorders. Indeed many studies revealed that dysfunctions in astrocyteneuron signaling can be directly involved in many pathologies including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson disease, amyotropic lateral sclerosis and epilepsy. The main goal in my thesis was to understand how the release of gliotrasnmitters by astrocytes, in particular glutamate, may influence two distinct phases of epileptic activity: the generation and the propagation of a focal seizure.
Author: Mario Cammarota
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Neurology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2275900617