Nature Neuroscience 9, 260 - 267 (2005)
Published online: 25 December 2005; | doi:10.1038/nn1623
Astrocyte-mediated control of cerebral blood flowTakahiro Takano1, Guo-Feng Tian1, Weiguo Peng1, Nanhong Lou1, Witold Libionka1, 2, Xiaoning Han1
& Maiken Nedergaard11
Center for Aging and Developmental Biology, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Rochester Medical School, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, New York 14642, USA. 2
Department of Neurosurgery, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland.
Correspondence should be addressed to Takahiro_Takano@URMC.Rochester.edu Local increase in blood flow during neural activity forms the basis for functional brain imaging, but its mechanism remains poorly defined. Here we show that cortical astrocytes in vivo possess a powerful mechanism for rapid vasodilation. We imaged the activity of astrocytes labeled with the calcium (Ca2+)-sensitive indicator rhod-2 in somatosensory cortex of adult mice. Photolysis of caged Ca2+ in astrocytic endfeet ensheathing the vessel wall was associated with an 18% increase in arterial cross-section area that corresponded to a 37% increase in blood flow. Vasodilation occurred with a latency of only 1–2 s, and both indomethacin and the cyclooxygenase-1 inhibitor SC-560 blocked the photolysis-induced hyperemia. These observations implicate astrocytes in the control of local microcirculation and suggest that one of their physiological roles is to mediate vasodilation in response to increased neural activity.
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
|
