β Scribed by Eliana Scemes; Christian Giaume
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Several lines of evidence indicate that the elaborated calcium signals and the occurrence of calcium waves in astrocytes provide these cells with a specific form of excitability. The identification of the cellular and molecular steps involved in the triggering and transmission of Ca^2+^ waves between astrocytes resulted in the identification of two pathways mediating this form of intercellular communication. One of them involves the direct communication between the cytosols of two adjoining cells through gap junction channels, while the other depends upon the release of βgliotransmittersβ that activates membrane receptors on neighboring cells. In this review we summarize evidence in favor of these two mechanisms of Ca^2+^ wave transmission and we discuss that they may not be mutually exclusive, but are likely to work in conjunction to coordinate the activity of a group of cells. To address a key question regarding the functional consequences following the passage of a Ca^2+^ wave, we list, in this review, some of the potential intracellular targets of these Ca^2+^ transients in astrocytes, and discuss the functional consequences of the activation of these targets for the interactions that astrocytes maintain with themselves and with other cellular partners, including those at the glial/vasculature interface and at perisynaptic sites where astrocytic processes tightly interact with neurons. Β© 2006 WileyβLiss, Inc.
π SIMILAR VOLUMES
Although activity quintupled to 1.2 billion megawatthours in 1997, many electric industry participants still have only a vague idea of what the identity and role of power marketers are. Like the independent power producers before them, however, they should no longer be regarded merely as marginal si
Epifluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, and transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the community of red fluorescing (emission > 665 nm when excited with blue light) phototrophic picoplankton (RFPP) in lakes Huron and Michigan. A population of coccoid to ovate eukaryotic cells
WITH A NEW FOREWORD BY ADAM COHEN OF THE NEW YORK TIMES Perhaps Studs Terkel's best-known book, Working is a compelling look at jobs and the people who do them. Consisting of over one hundred interviews with everyone from a gravedigger to a studio head, from a policeman to a piano tuner, this book p