Looks can be deceiving: reconsidering the evidence for gliotransmission

Steven A Sloan; Ben A Barres

doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2014.12.003

Looks can be deceiving: reconsidering the evidence for gliotransmission

Neuron. 2014 Dec 17;84(6):1112-5. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2014.12.003.

Authors

Steven A Sloan¹, Ben A Barres²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5125, USA. Electronic address: ssloan1@stanford.edu.
² Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5125, USA.

Abstract

Gliotransmission, a process involving active vesicular release of glutamate and other neurotransmitters by astrocytes, is thought to play a critical role in many brain functions. A new paper by Nedergaard et al. (2014) identifies an experimental flaw in these previous studies suggesting that astrocytes may not perform active vesicular release after all.

Publication types

Comment

MeSH terms

Animals
Female
Gene Expression Regulation*
Male
Neurons / metabolism*
SNARE Proteins / biosynthesis*

Substances

SNARE Proteins

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding