Escartin Carole, Rouach Nathalie
CEA DSV I2BM MIRCen and CNRS URA2210, Fontenay-aux-Roses Paris, France.
Front Neuroenergetics. 2013 Apr 26;5:4. doi: 10.3389/fnene.2013.00004. eCollection 2013.
The strategic position of astrocytic processes between blood capillaries and neurons, provided the early insight that astrocytes play a key role in supplying energy substrates to neurons in an activity-dependent manner. The central role of astrocytes in neurometabolic coupling has been first established at the level of single cell. Since then, exciting recent work based on cellular imaging and electrophysiological recordings has provided new mechanistic insights into this phenomenon, revealing the crucial role of gap junction (GJ)-mediated networks of astrocytes. Indeed, astrocytes define the local availability of energy substrates by regulating blood flow. Subsequently, in order to efficiently reach distal neurons, these substrates can be taken up, and distributed through networks of astrocytes connected by GJs, a process modulated by neuronal activity. Astrocytic networks can be morphologically and/or functionally altered in the course of various pathological conditions, raising the intriguing possibility of a direct contribution from these networks to neuronal dysfunction. The present review upgrades the current view of neuroglial metabolic coupling, by including the recently unravelled properties of astroglial metabolic networks and their potential contribution to normal and pathological neuronal activity.
星形胶质细胞突起在毛细血管和神经元之间的战略位置，使人们很早就认识到星形胶质细胞在以活动依赖的方式为神经元提供能量底物方面发挥着关键作用。星形胶质细胞在神经代谢偶联中的核心作用最初是在单细胞水平上确立的。从那时起，基于细胞成像和电生理记录的令人兴奋的最新研究为这一现象提供了新的机制见解，揭示了间隙连接（GJ）介导的星形胶质细胞网络的关键作用。事实上，星形胶质细胞通过调节血流来确定能量底物的局部可用性。随后，为了有效地到达远端神经元，这些底物可以被摄取，并通过由GJ连接的星形胶质细胞网络进行分布，这一过程受神经元活动的调节。在各种病理状态下，星形胶质细胞网络在形态和/或功能上可能会发生改变，这增加了这些网络直接导致神经元功能障碍的有趣可能性。本综述通过纳入最近揭示的星形胶质细胞代谢网络特性及其对正常和病理神经元活动的潜在贡献，更新了目前对神经胶质代谢偶联的看法。
