A Snapshot seminar hosted by the School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience
Abstract: Mammalian brain contains comparable populations of neurones and glial cells of which astrocytes are the most abundant. Astrocytes are not electrically excitable but nevertheless take an active part in the functioning of all brain circuits. Their role has been demonstrated in numerous biological processes such as memory, sleep, respiratory and circulatory control etc. It is generally known that, when a neuronal circuit is activated, local astrocytes respond in a variety of ways, including release of signalling molecules (gliotransmitters) and various metabolites. But how exactly neurones convey to the astrocytes the message needed to recruit them, we do not know. Several theories have been put forward so far but none of them looks sufficiently convincing and has been universally accepted. In this talk I will present some of the research we have done in collaboration with our partners at UCL to uncover a new straightforward and probably universal signalling pathway which may serve to recruit astrocytes at the times of high neuronal activity. It involves ATP and its metabolite adenosine. Biological significance of this pathway is currently under investigation.