Deletion of murine astrocytic vesicular nucleotide transporter increases anxiety and depressive-like behavior and attenuates motivation for reward.

Astrocytes are multi-functional glial cells in the central nervous system that play critical roles in modulation of metabolism, extracellular ion and neurotransmitter levels, and synaptic plasticity. Astrocyte-derived signaling molecules mediate many of these modulatory functions of astrocytes, including vesicular release of ATP. In the present study, we used a unique genetic mouse model to investigate the functional significance of astrocytic exocytosis of ATP.

Confocal Microscope-Based Laser Ablation and Regeneration Assay in Zebrafish Interneuromast Cells.

Hair cells are mechanosensory cells that mediate the sense of hearing. These cells do not regenerate after damage in humans, but they are naturally replenished in non-mammalian vertebrates such as zebrafish. The zebrafish lateral line system is a useful model for characterizing sensory hair cell regeneration.