Glia: An astrocytic generation gap.

摘要

It has become somewhat of a cliche to say that glial cells are more than 'brain glue' and have important functions in the brain. However, the idea that glial cells, specifically astrocytes, respond to neuronal glutamate release with increases in intracellular Ca~(2+) levels and the subsequent release of 'gliotransmitters' has remained controversial. Nedergaard and colleagues now show that contradictory data could be explained by their new finding that astrocytes in developing brains express metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mCluR5), whereas astrocytes in adult brains express only mCluR3, and that the former, but not the latter, respond to glutamate with a Ca~(2+) increase.