scholarly journals Extracellular Calcium Influx Pathways in Astrocyte Calcium Microdomain Physiology

Biomolecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1467
Author(s):  
Noushin Ahmadpour ◽  
Meher Kantroo ◽  
Jillian L. Stobart

Astrocytes are complex glial cells that play many essential roles in the brain, including the fine-tuning of synaptic activity and blood flow. These roles are linked to fluctuations in intracellular Ca2+ within astrocytes. Recent advances in imaging techniques have identified localized Ca2+ transients within the fine processes of the astrocytic structure, which we term microdomain Ca2+ events. These Ca2+ transients are very diverse and occur under different conditions, including in the presence or absence of surrounding circuit activity. This complexity suggests that different signalling mechanisms mediate microdomain events which may then encode specific astrocyte functions from the modulation of synapses up to brain circuits and behaviour. Several recent studies have shown that a subset of astrocyte microdomain Ca2+ events occur rapidly following local neuronal circuit activity. In this review, we consider the physiological relevance of microdomain astrocyte Ca2+ signalling within brain circuits and outline possible pathways of extracellular Ca2+ influx through ionotropic receptors and other Ca2+ ion channels, which may contribute to astrocyte microdomain events with potentially fast dynamics.

1997 ◽  
Vol 78 (06) ◽  
pp. 1500-1504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Vial ◽  
Béatrice Hechier ◽  
Catherine Léon ◽  
Jean-Pierre Cazenave ◽  
Christian Gachet

SummaryHuman platelets are thought to possess at least two subtypes of purinoceptor, one of which, coupled to G-proteins, could be the P2Y1 receptor (Léon et al. 1997). However, it has been suggested that the unique rapid calcium influx induced by ADP in platelets could involve P2X1 ionotropic receptors (MacKenzie et al. 1996) and the aim of this study was thus to investigate the presence of P2X purinoceptors in platelets and megakaryoblastic cells. Using PCR experiments, we found P2X1 mRNA to be present in human platelets and megakaryoblastic cell lines. In platelets, the selective P2X1 agonist αβMeATP induced a rise in intracellular calcium only in the presence of external calcium and this effect was antagonized by suramin and PPADS. Repeated addition of a�MeATP desensitized the P2X1 purinoceptor but only slightly affected the ADP response, while no calcium response to αβMeATP was observed in megakaryoblastic cells. These results support the existence of functional P2X1 purinoceptors on human platelets and the presence of P2X1 transcripts in megakaryoblastic cell lines.


Author(s):  
Aaishwarya Sanjay Bajaj ◽  
Usha Chouhan

Background: This paper endeavors to identify an expedient approach for the detection of the brain tumor in MRI images. The detection of tumor is based on i) review of the machine learning approach for the identification of brain tumor and ii) review of a suitable approach for brain tumor detection. Discussion: This review focuses on different imaging techniques such as X-rays, PET, CT- Scan, and MRI. This survey identifies a different approach with better accuracy for tumor detection. This further includes the image processing method. In most applications, machine learning shows better performance than manual segmentation of the brain tumors from MRI images as it is a difficult and time-consuming task. For fast and better computational results, radiology used a different approach with MRI, CT-scan, X-ray, and PET. Furthermore, summarizing the literature, this paper also provides a critical evaluation of the surveyed literature which reveals new facets of research. Conclusion: The problem faced by the researchers during brain tumor detection techniques and machine learning applications for clinical settings have also been discussed.


Author(s):  
Shoaib Amin Banday ◽  
Mohammad Khalid Pandit

Introduction: Brain tumor is among the major causes of morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. According to National Brain Tumor Foundation (NBTS), the death rate has nearly increased by as much as 300% over last couple of decades. Tumors can be categorized as benign (non-cancerous) and malignant (cancerous). The type of the brain tumor significantly depends on various factors like the site of its occurrence, its shape, the age of the subject etc. On the other hand, Computer Aided Detection (CAD) has been improving significantly in recent times. The concept, design and implementation of these systems ascend from fairly simple ones to computationally intense ones. For efficient and effective diagnosis and treatment plans in brain tumor studies, it is imperative that an abnormality is detected at an early stage as it provides a little more time for medical professionals to respond. The early detection of diseases has predominantly been possible because of medical imaging techniques developed from past many decades like CT, MRI, PET, SPECT, FMRI etc. The detection of brain tumors however, has always been a challenging task because of the complex structure of the brain, diverse tumor sizes and locations in the brain. Method: This paper proposes an algorithm that can detect the brain tumors in the presence of the Radio-Frequency (RF) inhomoginiety. The algorithm utilizes the Mid Sagittal Plane as a landmark point across which the asymmetry between the two brain hemispheres is estimated using various intensity and texture based parameters. Result: The results show the efficacy of the proposed method for the detection of the brain tumors with an acceptable detection rate. Conclusion: In this paper, we have calculated three textural features from the two hemispheres of the brain viz: Contrast (CON), Entropy (ENT) and Homogeneity (HOM) and three parameters viz: Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Correlation Co-efficient (CC), and Integral of Absolute Difference (IAD) from the intensity distribution profiles of the two brain hemispheres to predict any presence of the pathology. First a Mid Sagittal Plane (MSP) is obtained on the Magnetic Resonance Images that virtually divides brain into two bilaterally symmetric hemispheres. The block wise texture asymmetry is estimated for these hemispheres using the above 6 parameters.


Biomedicines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 325
Author(s):  
Petra Korać ◽  
Mariastefania Antica ◽  
Maja Matulić

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNA involved in the regulation of specific mRNA translation. They participate in cellular signaling circuits and can act as oncogenes in tumor development, so-called oncomirs, as well as tumor suppressors. miR-7 is an ancient miRNA involved in the fine-tuning of several signaling pathways, acting mainly as tumor suppressor. Through downregulation of PI3K and MAPK pathways, its dominant role is the suppression of proliferation and survival, stimulation of apoptosis and inhibition of migration. Besides these functions, it has numerous additional roles in the differentiation process of different cell types, protection from stress and chromatin remodulation. One of the most investigated tissues is the brain, where its downregulation is linked with glioblastoma cell proliferation. Its deregulation is found also in other tumor types, such as in liver, lung and pancreas. In some types of lung and oral carcinoma, it can act as oncomir. miR-7 roles in cell fate determination and maintenance of cell homeostasis are still to be discovered, as well as the possibilities of its use as a specific biotherapeutic.


Biosensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 255
Author(s):  
Ziyi Luo ◽  
Hao Xu ◽  
Liwei Liu ◽  
Tymish Y. Ohulchanskyy ◽  
Junle Qu

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a multifactorial, irreversible, and incurable neurodegenerative disease. The main pathological feature of AD is the deposition of misfolded β-amyloid protein (Aβ) plaques in the brain. The abnormal accumulation of Aβ plaques leads to the loss of some neuron functions, further causing the neuron entanglement and the corresponding functional damage, which has a great impact on memory and cognitive functions. Hence, studying the accumulation mechanism of Aβ in the brain and its effect on other tissues is of great significance for the early diagnosis of AD. The current clinical studies of Aβ accumulation mainly rely on medical imaging techniques, which have some deficiencies in sensitivity and specificity. Optical imaging has recently become a research hotspot in the medical field and clinical applications, manifesting noninvasiveness, high sensitivity, absence of ionizing radiation, high contrast, and spatial resolution. Moreover, it is now emerging as a promising tool for the diagnosis and study of Aβ buildup. This review focuses on the application of the optical imaging technique for the determination of Aβ plaques in AD research. In addition, recent advances and key operational applications are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. eabe0207
Author(s):  
Charles-Francois V. Latchoumane ◽  
Martha I. Betancur ◽  
Gregory A. Simchick ◽  
Min Kyoung Sun ◽  
Rameen Forghani ◽  
...  

Severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) survivors experience permanent functional disabilities due to significant volume loss and the brain’s poor capacity to regenerate. Chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycans (CS-GAGs) are key regulators of growth factor signaling and neural stem cell homeostasis in the brain. However, the efficacy of engineered CS (eCS) matrices in mediating structural and functional recovery chronically after sTBI has not been investigated. We report that neurotrophic factor functionalized acellular eCS matrices implanted into the rat M1 region acutely after sTBI significantly enhanced cellular repair and gross motor function recovery when compared to controls 20 weeks after sTBI. Animals subjected to M2 region injuries followed by eCS matrix implantations demonstrated the significant recovery of “reach-to-grasp” function. This was attributed to enhanced volumetric vascularization, activity-regulated cytoskeleton (Arc) protein expression, and perilesional sensorimotor connectivity. These findings indicate that eCS matrices implanted acutely after sTBI can support complex cellular, vascular, and neuronal circuit repair chronically after sTBI.


1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-28
Author(s):  
CS Breathnach

AbstractInterest in the psychiatric aspects of old age predated the institution of geriatrics as a clinical discipline, but the systematic study of the ageing brain only began in the second half of this century when an ageing population presented a global numerical challenge to society. In the senescent cerebral cortex, though the number of neurons is not reduced, cell shrinkage results in synaptic impoverishment with consequent cognitive impairment. Recent advances in imaging techniques, combined with burgeoning knowledge of neurobiological structure and function, have increased our understanding of the ageing processes in the human brain and permit an optimistic approach in the application of the newer insights into neuropsychology and geriatric psychiatry.


2007 ◽  
Vol 81 (13) ◽  
pp. 7286-7292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Winson S. C. Ho ◽  
Anthony N. van den Pol

ABSTRACT Astrocytes are the first cells infected by murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) in primary cultures of brain. These cells play key roles in intercellular signaling and neuronal development, and they modulate synaptic activity within the nervous system. Using ratiometric fura-2 digital calcium imaging of >8,000 neurons and glia, we found that MCMV-infected astrocytes showed an increase in intracellular basal calcium levels and an enhanced response to neuroactive substances, including glutamate and ATP, and to high potassium levels. Cultured neurons with no sign of MCMV infection showed attenuated synaptic signaling after infection of the underlying astrocyte substrate, and intercellular communication between astrocytes with no sign of infection was reduced by the presence of infected glia. These bystander effects would tend to cause further deterioration of cellular communication in the brain in addition to the problems caused by the loss of directly infected cells.


2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 1955-1969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atira S. Bick ◽  
Ram Frost ◽  
Gadi Goelman

Is morphology a discrete and independent element of lexical structure or does it simply reflect a fine-tuning of the system to the statistical correlation that exists among orthographic and semantic properties of words? Hebrew provides a unique opportunity to examine morphological processing in the brain because of its rich morphological system. In an fMRI masked priming experiment, we investigated the neural networks involved in implicit morphological processing in Hebrew. In the lMFG and lIFG, activation was found to be significantly reduced when the primes were morphologically related to the targets. This effect was not influenced by the semantic transparency of the morphological prime, and was not found in the semantic or orthographic condition. Additional morphologically related decrease in activation was found in the lIPL, where activation was significantly modulated by semantic transparency. Our findings regarding implicit morphological processing suggest that morphology is an automatic and distinct aspect of visually processing words. These results also coincide with the behavioral data previously obtained demonstrating the central role of morphological processing in reading Hebrew.


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