Do glia have heart? Expression and functional role for ether-a-go-go currents in hippocampal astrocytes.

ABSTRACT: Potassium homeostasis plays an important role in the control of neuronal excitability, and diminished buffering of extracellular K results in neuronal Hyperexcitability and abnormal synchronization. Astrocytes are the cellular elements primarily involved in this process. Potassium uptake into astrocytes occurs, at least in part, through voltage-dependent channels, but the exact mechanisms involved are not fully understood. Although most glial recordings reveal expression of inward rectifier currents (K(IR)), it is not clear how spatial buffering consisting of accumulation and release of potassium may be mediated by exclusively inward potassium fluxes. We hypothesized that a combination of inward and outward rectifiers cooperate in the process of spatial buffering. Given the pharmacological

SUBMITTER: Emmi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4093789 | biostudies-literature | 2000 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature