Tian Guo-Feng, Takano Takahiro, Lin Jane H-C, Wang Xiaohai, Bekar Lane, Nedergaard Maiken
Center for Aging and Developmental Biology, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14642, USA.
Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2006 Sep 15;58(7):773-87. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2006.07.001. Epub 2006 Aug 4.
A number of studies over the past decade have shown that astrocytes, the supportive cells of the brain, play important roles in synaptic transmission including regulating the strength of both excitatory and inhibitory synapses. A major challenge for the future is to define the role of astrocytes in complex tasks, such as functional hyperemia and sensory processing, as well as their contribution to acute and degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Multiphoton imaging approaches are ideally suited to study electrically non-excitable astrocytes. We here discuss novel in vivo studies aimed at defining the role of astrocytes in normal and pathological brain function. With a better understanding of the role astrocytes play in information processing and regulation of the brain microenvironment in vivo, and the understanding that astrocytes are heavily implicated in the pathology of many diseases such as epilepsy, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, astrocytes provide a promising target for future drug therapy approaches.
在过去十年中，许多研究表明，作为大脑支持细胞的星形胶质细胞在突触传递中发挥着重要作用，包括调节兴奋性和抑制性突触的强度。未来的一个主要挑战是确定星形胶质细胞在诸如功能性充血和感觉处理等复杂任务中的作用，以及它们对神经系统急性和退行性疾病的影响。多光子成像方法非常适合研究电不兴奋的星形胶质细胞。我们在此讨论旨在确定星形胶质细胞在正常和病理脑功能中作用的新型体内研究。随着对星形胶质细胞在体内信息处理和脑微环境调节中所起作用的更好理解，以及认识到星形胶质细胞与许多疾病如癫痫、阿尔茨海默病和帕金森病的病理密切相关，星形胶质细胞为未来的药物治疗方法提供了一个有希望的靶点。
