Department of Life Innovation, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan.
Department of Molecular and System Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan.
J Pharmacol Sci. 2018 May;137(1):101-104. doi: 10.1016/j.jphs.2018.04.007. Epub 2018 May 3.
The role of astrocytes in the spinal dorsal horn (SDH) for sensory information processing under normal conditions is poorly understood. In this study, we investigated whether SDH astrocytes respond to noxious and innocuous stimuli to the skin of normal mice using in vivo two-photon Ca imaging under anesthesia. We found that noxious stimulation evoked by intraplantar formalin injection provoked an elevation in intracellular Ca levels in SDH astrocytes. By contrast, neither instantaneous noxious pinching nor innocuous stimuli (cooling or brushing) to the hindpaw elicited astrocytic Ca responses. Thus, SDH astrocytes could respond preferentially to a strong and/or sustained noxious stimulus.
星形胶质细胞在正常情况下对脊髓背角（SDH）感觉信息处理的作用知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们使用麻醉状态下的体内双光子 Ca 成像技术，研究了正常小鼠皮肤的伤害性和无害性刺激是否会引起 SDH 星形胶质细胞的反应。我们发现，足底内注射福尔马林引起的伤害性刺激会引起 SDH 星形胶质细胞内 Ca 水平升高。相比之下，即时的伤害性钳夹或对后爪的无害刺激（冷却或刷擦）都不会引起星形胶质细胞的 Ca 反应。因此，SDH 星形胶质细胞可能优先对强烈和/或持续的伤害性刺激做出反应。
