title: Large-scale calcium waves traveling through astrocytic networks in vivo.
abstract: Macroscopic changes in cerebral blood flow, such as those captured by functional imaging of the brain, require highly organized, large-scale dynamics of astrocytes, glial cells that interact with both neuronal and cerebrovascular networks. However, astrocyte activity has been studied mainly at the level of individual cells, and information regarding their collective behavior is lacking. In this work, we monitored calcium activity simultaneously from hundreds of mouse hippocampal astrocytes in vivo and found that almost all astrocytes participated en masse in regenerative waves that propagated from cell to cell (referred to here as "glissandi"). Glissandi emerged depending on the neuronal activity and accompanied a reduction in infraslow fluctuations of local field potentials and a decrease in the flow of red blood cells. This novel phenomenon was heretofore overlooked, probably because of the high vulnerability of astrocytes to light damage; glissandi occurred only when observed at much lower laser intensities than previously used.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Chemical Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
authors.forename: Nahoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kuga
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takahara
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Matsuki
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ikegaya
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000494:pharmacology; D000814:Aniline Compounds / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D003911:Dextrans / Q000378:metabolism; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology*; D008297:Male; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D026941:Sodium Channel Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology; D013779:Tetrodotoxin / Q000494:pharmacology; D013997:Time Factors; D014966:Xanthenes / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000814:Aniline Compounds; D003911:Dextrans; C409648:Fluo 4; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D026941:Sodium Channel Blockers; D014966:Xanthenes; C015219:fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D013779:Tetrodotoxin; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate; D002118:Calcium