Maintaining brain function during aging is very important for mental and physical health. Recent studies showed a crucial importance of communication between two major types of brain cells: neurons transmitting electrical signals, and glial cells, which maintain the well-being and function of neurons. Still, the study of age-related changes in neuron–glia signalling is far from complete. We have shown previously that cortical astrocytes are capable of releasing ATP by a quantal soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor-attachment protein receptor (SNARE) complex-dependent mechanism. Release of ATP from cortical astrocytes can be activated via various pathways, including direct UV-uncaging of intracellular Ca2+or G-protein-coupled receptors. Importantly, release of both ATP and glutamate from neocortical astrocytes was not observed in brain slices of dominant-negative SNARE (dnSNARE) mice, expressing dnSNARE domain selectively in astrocytes. We also discovered that astrocyte-driven ATP can cause significant attenuation of synaptic inhibition in the pyramidal neurons via Ca2+-interaction between the neuronal ATP and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors. Furthermore, we showed that astrocyte-derived ATP can facilitate the induction of long-term potentiation of synaptic plasticity in the neocortex. Our recent data have shown that an age-related decrease in the astroglial Ca2+ signalling can cause a substantial decrease in the exocytosis of gliotransmitters, in particular ATP. Age-related impairment of ATP release from cortical astrocytes can cause a decrease in the extent of astroglial modulation of synaptic transmission in the neocortex and can therefore contribute to the age-related impairment of synaptic plasticity and cognitive decline. Combined, our results strongly support the physiological relevance of glial exocytosis for glia–neuron communications and brain function.
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October 2014
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Conference Article|
September 18 2014
Exocytosis of gliotransmitters from cortical astrocytes: implications for synaptic plasticity and aging
Ulyana Lalo;
Ulyana Lalo
*School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, U.K.
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Seyed Rasooli-Nejad;
Seyed Rasooli-Nejad
*School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, U.K.
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Yuriy Pankratov
Yuriy Pankratov
1
*School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, U.K.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (emaily.pankratov@warwick.ac.uk).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
June 12 2014
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2014 Biochemical Society
2014
Biochem Soc Trans (2014) 42 (5): 1275–1281.
Article history
Received:
June 12 2014
Citation
Ulyana Lalo, Seyed Rasooli-Nejad, Yuriy Pankratov; Exocytosis of gliotransmitters from cortical astrocytes: implications for synaptic plasticity and aging. Biochem Soc Trans 1 October 2014; 42 (5): 1275–1281. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20140163
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