Astrocytic gap junction blockage and neuronal Ca2+ oscillation in neuron-astrocyte cocultures in vitro

We have investigated the effects of gap junction inhibitors, octanol, halothane, sodium propionate and lindane, on neuronal periodic Ca2+ transients in neuron-astrocyte coculture systems. Octanol reduced the amplitude and frequency of Ca2+ oscillations in dose-dependent manner. One mM octanol caused a complete disappearance of Ca2+ oscillations. Similar suppressions were obtained by halothane (1 mM) and sodium propionate (25 mM). In contrast, lindane (300 nM) uniquely raised the basal level of [Ca2+], in oscillating neurons as well as the height of apparent amplitude without changes in the frequency. The current results imply that octanol, halothane and sodium propionate might lower the frequency of spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations by blocking the gap junctional communication of neighboring astrocytes and that lindane, though also blocking the gap junctions, might not affect the frequency but reversely increase both the basal [Ca2+]i and the amplitude, probably due to an increase of neuronal [Ins (1.4.5)P3]i. These findings strongly suggest that astrocytes contribute to the generation of periodic neuronal Ca2+ oscillations through astrocytic gap junctional communications and/or other signaling components between astrocytes and neurons.