Long-distance mechanism of neurotransmitter recycling mediated by glial network facilitates visual function in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: Neurons rely on glia to recycle neurotransmitters such as glutamate and histamine for sustained signaling. Both mammalian and insect glia form intercellular gap-junction networks, but their functional significance underlying neurotransmitter recycling is unknown. Using the Drosophila visual system as a genetic model, here we show that a multicellular glial network transports neurotransmitter metabolites between perisynaptic glia and neuronal cell bodies to mediate long-distance recycling of neurotransmitter. In the first visual neuropil (lamina), which contains a multilayer glial network, photoreceptor axons release histamine to hyperpolarize secondary sensory neurons. Subsequently, the released histamine is taken up by perisynaptic epithelial glia and converted into inactive carcinine thr

SUBMITTER: Chaturvedi R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3932938 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature