Département de Neurosciences and Groupe de Recherche sur le Système Nerveux Central, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Faculté de Pharmacie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Nat Neurosci. 2015 Jun;18(6):844-54. doi: 10.1038/nn.4013. Epub 2015 May 4.
Communication between neurons rests on their capacity to change their firing pattern to encode different messages. For several vital functions, such as respiration and mastication, neurons need to generate a rhythmic firing pattern. Here we show in the rat trigeminal sensori-motor circuit for mastication that this ability depends on regulation of the extracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)]e) by astrocytes. In this circuit, astrocytes respond to sensory stimuli that induce neuronal rhythmic activity, and their blockade with a Ca(2+) chelator prevents neurons from generating a rhythmic bursting pattern. This ability is restored by adding S100β, an astrocytic Ca(2+)-binding protein, to the extracellular space, while application of an anti-S100β antibody prevents generation of rhythmic activity. These results indicate that astrocytes regulate a fundamental neuronal property: the capacity to change firing pattern. These findings may have broad implications for many other neural networks whose functions depend on the generation of rhythmic activity.
神经元之间的通讯依赖于它们改变放电模式以编码不同信息的能力。对于呼吸和咀嚼等几个重要功能，神经元需要产生节律性的放电模式。在这里，我们在大鼠三叉神经感觉运动回路中显示，这种能力取决于星形胶质细胞对细胞外 Ca(2+)浓度([Ca(2+)]e)的调节。在这个回路中，星形胶质细胞对感应刺激做出反应，这些感应刺激会诱导神经元的节律性活动，而用 Ca(2+)螯合剂阻断星形胶质细胞则会阻止神经元产生节律性爆发模式。将星形胶质细胞 Ca(2+)结合蛋白 S100β添加到细胞外空间可以恢复这种能力，而应用抗 S100β 抗体则会阻止节律性活动的产生。这些结果表明，星形胶质细胞调节神经元的基本特性：改变放电模式的能力。这些发现可能对许多其他依赖于节律性活动产生的神经网络具有广泛的意义。
