GABA, but Not Bestrophin-1, Is Localized in Astroglial Processes in the Mouse Hippocampus and the Cerebellum.

GABA is proposed to act as a gliotransmitter in the brain. Differences in GABA release from astroglia are thought to underlie differences in tonic inhibition between the cerebellum and the CA1 hippocampus. Here we used quantitative immunogold cytochemistry to localize and compare the levels of GABA in astroglia in these brain regions.

A distinct set of synaptic-like microvesicles in atroglial cells contain VGLUT3.

There is increasing evidence for vesicular release of glutamate from astrocytes. We have previously demonstrated existence of VGLUT1 on astrocytic synaptic-like microvesicles (SMLVs) in several brain regions indicating a role in astroglial glutamate release. As VGLUT3 is prominently expressed in non-neuronal cells, this prompted us to investigate whether VGLUT3 is also involved in astroglial release of glutamate.

VGLUT1 is localized in astrocytic processes in several brain regions.

During the last years, the concept of gliotransmission has been established. Glutamate has been shown to be released from astrocytes by different mechanisms, e.g.

Functional and anatomical identification of a vesicular transporter mediating neuronal ATP release.

ATP is known to be coreleased with glutamate at certain central synapses. However, the nature of its release is controversial. Here, we demonstrate that ATP release from cultured rat hippocampal neurons is sensitive to RNAi-mediated knockdown of the recently identified vesicular nucleotide transporter (VNUT or SLC17A9).

Long-term levetiracetam treatment affects reproductive endocrine function in female Wistar rats.

Purpose: Several antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) induce changes in endocrine function in women with epilepsy. Levetiracetam (LEV) is one of the newer AEDs, and to date no endocrine side-effects have been reported in humans. However, a recent study on ovarian follicular cells from prepubertal pigs showed that LEV affected basal steroid hormone secretion.