Calcium signalling in cells of oligodendroglial lineage

✍ Scribed by Betty Soliven

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 135 KB
• Volume: 52
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1059-910X
• DOI: 10.1002/jemt.1051

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Intracellular Ca^2+^ is the key signal that regulates the efficacy of neurotransmitter release and synaptic plasticity in neurons but is also an important second messenger involved in the signal transduction and modulation of gene expression in both excitable and non‐excitable cells. Glial cells, including cells of oligodendroglial (OLG) lineage, are capable of responding to extracellular stimuli via changes in the intracellular Ca^2+^. This review article focuses on the mechanisms of Ca^2+^ signalling in cells of OLG lineage with the goal of providing the basis for understanding the relevance of receptor‐ and non‐receptor‐mediated signalling to oligodendroglial development, myelination, and demyelination. Conclusions to date indicate that cells of OLG lineage exhibit remarkable plasticity with regard to the expression of ion channels and receptors linked to Ca^2+^ signalling and that perturbation of [Ca^2+^]~i~ homeostasis contributes to the pathogenesis of demyelinating diseases. Microsc. Res. Tech. 52:672–679, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.