For decades, studies have been focusing on the neuronal abnormalities that accompany neurodegenerative disorders. Yet, glial cells are emerging as important players in numerous neurological diseases. Astrocytes, the main type of glia in the central nervous system , form extensive networks that physically and functionally connect neuronal synapses with cerebral blood vessels. Normal brain functioning strictly depends on highly specialized cellular cross-talk between these different partners to which Ca(2+), as a signaling ion, largely contributes. Altered intracellular Ca(2+) levels are associated with neurodegenerative disorders and play a crucial role in the glial responses to injury. Intracellular Ca(2+) increases in single astrocytes can be propagated toward neighboring cells as intercellular Ca(2+) waves, thereby recruiting a larger group of cells. Intercellular Ca(2+) wave propagation depends on two, parallel, connexin (Cx) channel-based mechanisms: i) the diffusion of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate through gap junction channels that directly connect the cytoplasm of neighboring cells, and ii) the release of paracrine messengers such as glutamate and ATP through hemichannels ('half of a gap junction channel'). This review gives an overview of the current knowledge on Cx-mediated Ca(2+) communication among astrocytes as well as between astrocytes and other brain cell types in physiology and pathology, with a focus on the processes of neurodegeneration and reactive gliosis. Research on Cx-mediated astroglial Ca(2+) communication may ultimately shed light on the development of targeted therapies for neurodegenerative disorders in which astrocytes participate. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Calcium signaling in health and disease. Guest Editors: Geert Bultynck, Jacques Haiech, Claus W. Heizmann, Joachim Krebs, and Marc Moreau.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamcr.2014.04.016 | DOI Listing |
Curr Top Med Chem
January 2025
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research (JSS AHER), Mysuru, Karnataka, India.
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December 2024
Provincial Key University Laboratory of Plant-Microbe Interactions, College of Biology and Food, Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu, China.
Plant extracellular vesicles play a role in systemic acquired resistance by facilitating the transmission of immune signals between plant cells. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a critical role in facilitating the transfer of nucleic acids and proteins between plants and pathogens. However, the involvement of plant EVs in intercellular communication and their contribution to the regulation of physiological and pathological conditions in plants remains unclear.
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December 2024
Guangdong Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Economy (SZ), Shenzhen 518107, China.
The demand for non-invasive, real-time health monitoring has driven advancements in wearable sensors for tracking biomarkers in sweat. Ammonium ions (NH) in sweat serve as indicators of metabolic function, muscle fatigue, and kidney health. Although current ion-selective all-solid-state printed sensors based on nanocomposites typically exhibit good sensitivity (~50 mV/log [NH]), low detection limits (LOD ranging from 10 to 10 M), and wide linearity ranges (from 10 to 10 M), few have reported the stability test results necessary for their integration into commercial products for future practical applications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Mol Sci
December 2024
Division of Life Science and the Biotechnology Research Institute, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
Communications between different cell types within a tissue are often critical for the proper functioning of an organ. In the central nervous system, interactions among neurons and glial cells are known to modulate neurotransmission, energy metabolism, extracellular ion homeostasis, and neuroprotection. Here we showed that bradykinin, a proinflammatory neuropeptide, can be detected by astrocytes, resulting in the secretion of cytokines that act on neurons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Pollut
December 2024
Military Medical Sciences Academy, Academy of Military Sciences, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Risk Assessment and Control Technology for Environment and Food Safety, Tianjin, 300050, China. Electronic address:
Nanoplastics, as environmental contaminants, are thought to have irreversible impacts on the developing brains of infants and early children; however, the degree of the effects and the mechanisms of damage are unknown. In this study, spatial transcriptomics was used to investigate changes in the hippocampal region of rats descended from maternal exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs), and the transcriptomes of each spot were sequenced, allowing us to visualize the hippocampus's transcriptional landscape as well as clarify the gene expression profiles of each cell type. Spatial transcriptomics was used to explore changes in the hippocampus region of rats exposed to PS-NPs during brain formation and maturation.
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