Astrocytes put down the broom and pick up the baton.

Full Abstract

In this issue of Cell, Panatier et al. (2006) show that D-serine released by astrocytes, a type of glial cell in the brain, promotes NMDA receptor activity at synapses in the hypothalamus. These results confirm that glial cells participate in synaptic signaling and show that they can dictate the tenor of synaptic plasticity.

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Author information

Author/s: Diamond, Jeffrey S (JS);

Affiliation: NIH/NINDS, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. diamondj(-atsign-)ninds.nih.gov

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comment; Journal Article

Journal: Cell (Cell), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-May; vol 125 (issue 4) : pp 639-41

Dates: Created 2006/05/22; Completed 2006/07/12;

PMID: 16713554, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentOn: Cell. 2006 May 19;125(4):775-84. (PMID: 16713567)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Animals
Astrocytes - metabolism
Female
Lactation
Neuronal Plasticity - physiology
Neurons - metabolism

Rats
Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate - metabolism
Serine - metabolism
Supraoptic Nucleus - cytology; metabolism
Synapses - metabolism
Synaptic Transmission - physiology

Associated Chemicals: Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate (0) ; Serine (56-45-1)

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