Shaham Shai
Laboratory of Developmental Genetics, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10065.
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2015 Jan 8;7(4):a020578. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a020578.
The nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, has served as a fruitful setting for understanding conserved biological processes. The past decade has seen the rise of this model organism as an important tool for uncovering the mysteries of the glial cell, which partners with neurons to generate a functioning nervous system in all animals. C. elegans affords unparalleled single-cell resolution in vivo in examining glia-neuron interactions, and similarities between C. elegans and vertebrate glia suggest that lessons learned from this nematode are likely to have general implications. Here, I summarize what has been gleaned over the past decade since C. elegans glia research became a concerted area of focus. Studies have revealed that glia are essential elements of a functioning C. elegans nervous system and play key roles in its development. Importantly, glial influence on neuronal function appears to be dynamic. Key questions for the field to address in the near- and long-term have emerged, and these are discussed within.
线虫秀丽隐杆线虫已成为理解保守生物过程的一个富有成果的研究对象。在过去十年中,这种模式生物作为揭示神经胶质细胞奥秘的重要工具而兴起,神经胶质细胞与神经元协同作用,在所有动物中生成一个正常运作的神经系统。秀丽隐杆线虫在体内研究神经胶质细胞与神经元的相互作用时提供了无与伦比的单细胞分辨率,而且秀丽隐杆线虫与脊椎动物神经胶质细胞之间的相似性表明,从这种线虫身上学到的知识可能具有普遍意义。在此,我总结了自秀丽隐杆线虫神经胶质细胞研究成为一个共同关注领域以来过去十年所获得的知识。研究表明,神经胶质细胞是正常运作的秀丽隐杆线虫神经系统的基本组成部分,并在其发育中发挥关键作用。重要的是,神经胶质细胞对神经元功能的影响似乎是动态的。该领域在近期和长期需要解决的关键问题已经出现,本文将对此进行讨论。