Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Glia get excited

Nature Neuroscience volume 11, pages 379–380 (2008)Cite this article

A new study shows that a subset of the glia that express the proteoglycan NG2 can fire action potentials, contradicting the dogma that only neurons are excitable in the brain. These glia receive excitatory and inhibitory synaptic input, are selectively vulnerable to ischemia and are present into adulthood, though their function remains mysterious.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The NG2+ glial cell in cerebellar white matter.

Katie Ris-Vicari

References

  1. Káradóttir, R. et al. Nat. Neurosci. 11, 450–456 (2008).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Wilson, S.S. et al. Dev. Biol. 83, 146–153 (1981).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Nishiyama, A. Neuroscientist 13, 62–76 (2007).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Kukley, M. et al. Nat. Neurosci. 10, 311–320 (2007).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Ziskin, J.L. et al. Nat. Neurosci. 10, 321–330 (2007).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Bergles, D.E. et al. Nature 405, 187–191 (2000).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Lin, S.C. & Bergles, D.E. Nat. Neurosci. 7, 24–32 (2004).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Lin, S.C. et al. Neuron 46, 773–785 (2005).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Chittajallu, R. et al. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 561, 109–122 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Malatesta, P. et al. Neuron 37, 751–764 (2003).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Garcia, A.D. et al. Nat. Neurosci. 7, 1233–1241 (2004).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Imura, T. et al. Glia 53, 277–293 (2006).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Liu, X. et al. Glia 54, 394–410 (2006).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Butt, A.M. et al. Glia 26, 84–91 (1999).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Huang, J.K. et al. Science 310, 1813–1817 (2005).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurobiology, Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, 10833 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90095. otist@ucla.edu or sofroniew@mednet.ucla.edu,

    Thomas S Otis & Michael V Sofroniew

Authors
  1. Thomas S Otis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michael V Sofroniew
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Otis, T., Sofroniew, M. Glia get excited. Nat Neurosci 11, 379–380 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0408-379

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0408-379

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing