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Review
. 2019 Jan 1:396:73-78.
doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2018.11.010. Epub 2018 Nov 17.

Diversity and Specificity of Astrocyte-neuron Communication

Caitlin A Durkee  1 , Alfonso Araque  2
Affiliations
Review

Diversity and Specificity of Astrocyte-neuron Communication

Caitlin A Durkee et al. Neuroscience. .

Abstract

Astrocytes are emerging as important players in synaptic function, and, consequently, on brain function and animal behavior. According to the Tripartite Synapse concept, astrocytes are integral elements involved in synaptic function. They establish bidirectional communication with neurons, whereby they respond to synaptically released neurotransmitters and, in turn, release gliotransmitters that influence neuronal and synaptic activity. Accumulating evidence is revealing that the mechanisms and functional consequences of astrocyte-neuron signaling are more complex than originally thought. Furthermore, astrocyte-neuron signaling is not based on broad, unspecific interaction; rather, it is a synapse-, cell- and circuit-specific phenomenon that presents a high degree of complexity. This diversity and complexity of astrocyte-synapse interactions greatly enhance the degrees of freedom of the neural circuits and the consequent computational power of the neural systems.

Keywords: astrocytes; astrocyte–neuron signaling; glia; gliotransmission; synaptic plasticity; synaptic transmission.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Sources of diversity in astrocyte-neuron signaling. Scheme of the key steps in bidirectional astrocyte-neuron signaling. Sources of diversity are marked by numbers, as follows: (1) Astrocytes sense synaptic activity by responding with calcium elevations to many different neurotransmitters and secretory mole-cules, such as glutamate or GABA. (2) The neurotransmitter-evoked downstream calcium signal is a result of specific integration of the input via intracellular signaling cascades that may or may not interact depending of the neurotransmitter receptors activated. The synaptic integration controls the spatial extent of the calcium signal, and can produce a non-linear input-output relationship, which is indicative of synaptic information processing by astrocytes. (3) Diverse, not mutually exclusive, mechanisms for gliotransmitter release down-stream of astrocyte activation may exist. Thus, different gliotransmit-ters may be released by different mechanisms. For example, two different SNARE proteins are responsible for the release of vesicles containing two different gliotransmitters. (4) Astrocytes can release different types of gliotransmitters. The type of gliotransmitter released may depend on the synaptic activity pattern that stimulates astro-cytes. (5) There is large diversity in the effects of gliotransmitters. It depends on the pre- or postsynaptic location of binding and type of neuronal receptors activated, as well as the neuronal cell type, which results in the synapse-, cell-, and pathway-specificity of astrocyte neuron-signaling.
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