Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Analyzing the Size, Shape, and Directionality of Networks of Coupled Astrocytes
Published on: October 4, 2018
Defining the role of astrocytes in neuromodulation
Nicolas X Tritsch1, Dwight E Bergles
1The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 725 North Wolfe Street, WBSB 813, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Abstract:
Astrocytes undergo elevations in intracellular calcium following activation of metabotropic receptors, which may trigger glutamate secretion and excitation of surrounding neurons. In this issue of Neuron, Fiacco et al. use transgenic mice that express a foreign G(q)-coupled receptor in astrocytes to show that selective stimulation of astrocytes is not sufficient to induce the release of glutamate.
Related Concept Videos
Glial Cells
Nervous Tissue: Glial Cells
The CNS glial cell includes the astrocytes, the oligodendrocytes, the microglia, and the ependymal cells.
Astrocytes are star-shaped glial cells that interact...
Neuron Structure
Structure and Function of Neurons
The neuronal cell body—the soma— houses the nucleus and organelles vital to cellular...

