Giaume Christian, Liu Xinhe
CIRB, CNRS UMR UMR7241/INSERM U1050, MEMOLIFE Laboratory of Excellence and Paris Science Lettre, Collège de France, University Pierre et Marie Curie, ED, N°158, 11 Place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris, France.
J Physiol Paris. 2012 Jan;106(1-2):34-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jphysparis.2011.09.001. Epub 2011 Sep 29.
In the brain, glia represents the cell population that expresses the highest level of connexins, the membrane protein constituents of gap junction channels and hemichannels. This statement has initially led to propose the existence of a glial syncytium. Since then, functional studies have established that connexin channel-mediated communication between glial cells was more restricted and plastic that primarily thought. In particular, this is the case for astrocytes that form functional networks of communicating cells. Altogether these findings lead to reconsider the interaction between neurons and glia that should not be solely studied at the single cell level but also at a more integrated level as the interplay between neuronal circuits and glial networks.
在大脑中，神经胶质细胞是表达连接蛋白水平最高的细胞群体，连接蛋白是间隙连接通道和半通道的膜蛋白成分。这一说法最初促使人们提出神经胶质细胞合体的存在。从那时起，功能研究已经证实，连接蛋白通道介导的神经胶质细胞间通讯比最初认为的更加受限且具有可塑性。特别是对于形成通讯细胞功能网络的星形胶质细胞来说更是如此。所有这些发现促使人们重新思考神经元与神经胶质细胞之间的相互作用，这种相互作用不应仅在单细胞水平上进行研究，还应在更综合的水平上进行研究，即作为神经回路与神经胶质网络之间的相互作用来研究。
