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Exocytosis in Astrocytes: Transmitter Release and Membrane Signal Regulation

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Abstract

Astrocytes, a type of glial cells in the brain, are eukaryotic cells, and a hallmark of these are subcellular organelles, such as secretory vesicles. In neurons vesicles play a key role in signaling. Upon a stimulus—an increase in cytosolic concentration of free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i)—the membrane of vesicle fuses with the presynaptic plasma membrane, allowing the exit of neurotransmitters into the extracellular space and their diffusion to the postsynaptic receptors. For decades it was thought that such vesicle-based mechanisms of gliotransmitter release were not present in astrocytes. However, in the last 30 years experimental evidence showed that astrocytes are endowed with mechanisms for vesicle- and non-vesicle-based gliotransmitter release mechanisms. The aim of this review is to focus on exocytosis, which may play a role in gliotransmission and also in other forms of cell-to-cell communication, such as the delivery of transporters, ion channels and antigen presenting molecules to the cell surface.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the grants P3 310, J3 4051, J3 3632 and J3 4146 from the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS), CipKeBip and the EduGlia ITN EU grant.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology-Molecular Cell Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Zaloška 4, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Alenka Guček, Nina Vardjan & Robert Zorec

  2. Celica Biomedical Center, Tehnološki park 24, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Nina Vardjan & Robert Zorec

  3. IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, 48011, Bilbao, Spain

    Robert Zorec

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  1. Alenka Guček
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  2. Nina Vardjan
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  3. Robert Zorec
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Correspondence to Robert Zorec.

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Special issue: In honor of Leif Hertz.

Alenka Guček, Nina Vardjan contributed equally to this work.

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Guček, A., Vardjan, N. & Zorec, R. Exocytosis in Astrocytes: Transmitter Release and Membrane Signal Regulation. Neurochem Res 37, 2351–2363 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-012-0773-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-012-0773-6

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