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Full Description
For decades glial cells were considered relatively passive supporters of nerve function. It was accepted that they had important roles to play in the structural, metabolic and trophic support of neurons; however, it is now also known that glial cells are active in the processes of synaptic transmission and information processing. Electrophysiological and optical imaging studies demonstrate that glia not only receive coded information concerning neighbouring synaptic events, but also integrate the exchange of rapid signals with nerve cells and exert modulatory influences at the local and long-range levels. As the specific mechanisms and functional consequences of the glial-synaptic relationship becomes clearer, so the broader relevance of these findings can be understood. The Tripartite Synapse: Glia in Synaptic Transmission introduces the concept of glial cells as active elements of the synapse and the nervous circuitry, describes the experimental evidence supporting this and suggests a revised view of brain activity based on this integrated network of interactive neurons and glia.
This is a timely and international review of an exciting new field, and will be of interest to neuroscientists, neurobiologists and cell biologists. The text is supported by a CD containing additional images, movies and animated sequences.
Contents
SECTION ONE - THE ANATOMICAL AND FUNCTIONAL BASES FOR COUPLING BETWEEN SYNAPSES AND GLIA; 1. The synapse-astrocyte boundary: an anatomical basis for an integrative role of glia in synaptic transmission; 2. The role of glia in the development of synaptic contacts; 3. Receptors for synaptic transmitters on the glial cell plasma membrane: role in glial cell proliferation and maturation; 4. Transporters for synaptic transmitters on the glial cell plasma membrane; 5. Synaptic transmitter at the glial cell plasma membrane; 6. The role of astrocytes in coupling synaptic activity to glucose utilization; 7. Functional imaging studies of neurone-glia transmitter cycling and metabolic coupling in the living brain; SECTION TWO - ASTROCYTE CALCIUM EXCITABILITY: THE BASIS OF SIGNAL PROPAGATION; 8. Calcium excitability of glial cells; 9. Intercellular calcium waves in astrocytes: underlying mechanisms and functional significance; 10. Hippocampal astrocytes exhibit both spontaneous and receptor activated Ca2+ oscillations; 11. Signalling between neurones and Bergmann glial cells; 12. Calcium oscillations as a signalling system that mediates the bi-directional communication between neurones and astrocytes; 13. Release of transmitters from glial cells; SECTION THREE - ROLES FOR ASTROCYTES IN SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION AND PLASTICITY; 14. Astrocytes as modulators of synaptic transmission; 15. Modulation of neuronal activity by glial cells in the retina; 16. Glial regulation of cholinergic synaptic transmission by secretion of an acetylcholine-binding protein; 17. Multi-level regulation of synaptic efficacy by perisynaptic Schwann cells at the vertebrate neuromuscular junction; 18. Astrocytes as an intermediary in activity-dependent modulation of inhibitory synaptic transmission in hippocampus; 19. Behavioural experience-dependent plasticity of glial-neuronal interactions; CONCLUSIONS
