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Making sense of astrocytic calcium signals — from acquisition to interpretation

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 21, pages 551–564 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Astrocytes functionally interact with neurons and with other brain cells. Although not electrically excitable, astrocytes display a complex repertoire of intracellular Ca2+ signalling that evolves in space and time within single astrocytes and across astrocytic networks. Decoding the physiological meaning of these dynamic changes in astrocytic Ca2+ activity has remained a major challenge. This Review describes experimental preparations and methods for recording and studying Ca2+ activity in astrocytes, focusing on the analysis of Ca2+ signalling events in single astrocytes and in astrocytic networks. The limitations of existing experimental approaches and ongoing technical and conceptual challenges in the interpretation of astrocytic Ca2+ events and their spatio-temporal patterns are also discussed.

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Fig. 1: Visualization of astrocytic Ca2+ signals.
Fig. 2: Spatio-temporal analysis of astrocytic Ca2+ activity.
Fig. 3: Signal processing in astrocytes and neurons.
Fig. 4: Different levels of interaction between neurons and astrocytes.

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Acknowledgements

The research work of A.S.’s laboratory is supported by Russian Science Foundation grant 20-14-00241. The research work of A.A.’s laboratory is supported by the Chica and Heinz Schaller Research Foundation, the Brain & Behaviour Research Foundation via a National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia & Depression (NARSAD) Young Investigator Award and grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG): SFB1134-B01, SFB1158-A09 and FOR2289-P8. C.H.’s laboratory is supported by DFG grants SFB1089 B03, SPP1757 HE6949/1, FOR2795 and HE6949/3.

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Alexey Semyanov, Christian Henneberger, Amit Agarwal.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    Alexey Semyanov

  2. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia

    Alexey Semyanov

  3. Institute of Cellular Neurosciences, Medical Faculty, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Christian Henneberger

  4. Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK

    Christian Henneberger

  5. German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany

    Christian Henneberger

  6. The Chica and Heinz Schaller Research Group, Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany

    Amit Agarwal

  7. Interdisciplinary Center for Neurosciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany

    Amit Agarwal

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The authors contributed equally to all aspects of the article.

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A recombinant peptide including modified ligand-binding domains from mouse inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) receptor type 1 (IP3R1), designed to sequester intracellular InsP3 owing to its ~1,000-fold higher affinity for InsP3 than for native IP3Rs.

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Semyanov, A., Henneberger, C. & Agarwal, A. Making sense of astrocytic calcium signals — from acquisition to interpretation. Nat Rev Neurosci 21, 551–564 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-020-0361-8

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