Woodruff Alan R, Anderson Stewart A, Yuste Rafael
Department of Biological Sciences, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University New York, NY, USA.
Front Neurosci. 2010 Dec 8;4:201. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2010.00201. eCollection 2010.
Chandelier (or axo-axonic) cells are one of the most distinctive GABAergic interneurons in the brain. Their exquisite target specificity for the axon initial segment of pyramidal neurons, together with their GABAergic nature, long suggested the possibility that they provide the ultimate inhibitory control of pyramidal neuron output. Recent findings indicate that their function may be more complicated, and perhaps more interesting, than initially believed. Here we review these recent developments and their implications. We focus in particular on whether chandelier cells may provide a depolarizing, excitatory effect on pyramidal neuron output, in addition to a powerful inhibition.
吊灯细胞（或轴突-轴突细胞）是大脑中最具特色的γ-氨基丁酸能中间神经元之一。它们对锥体神经元轴突起始段具有精确的靶标特异性，再加上其γ-氨基丁酸能特性，长期以来一直暗示着它们可能对锥体神经元输出提供最终的抑制性控制。最近的研究结果表明，它们的功能可能比最初认为的更为复杂，或许也更有趣。在此，我们综述这些最新进展及其意义。我们特别关注吊灯细胞除了强大的抑制作用外，是否可能对锥体神经元输出产生去极化的兴奋性作用。
