title: Bi-directional astrocytic regulation of neuronal activity within a network.
abstract: The concept of a tripartite synapse holds that astrocytes can affect both the pre- and post-synaptic compartments through the Ca(2+)-dependent release of gliotransmitters. Because astrocytic Ca(2+) transients usually last for a few seconds, we assumed that astrocytic regulation of synaptic transmission may also occur on the scale of seconds. Here, we considered the basic physiological functions of tripartite synapses and investigated astrocytic regulation at the level of neural network activity. The firing dynamics of individual neurons in a spontaneous firing network was described by the Hodgkin-Huxley model. The neurons received excitatory synaptic input driven by the Poisson spike train with variable frequency. The mean field concentration of the released neurotransmitter was used to describe the presynaptic dynamics. The amplitudes of the excitatory postsynaptic currents (PSCs) obeyed the gamma distribution law. In our model, astrocytes depressed the presynaptic release and enhanced the PSCs. As a result, low frequency synaptic input was suppressed while high frequency input was amplified. The analysis of the neuron spiking frequency as an indicator of network activity revealed that tripartite synaptic transmission dramatically changed the local network operation compared to bipartite synapses. Specifically, the astrocytes supported homeostatic regulation of the network activity by increasing or decreasing firing of the neurons. Thus, the astrocyte activation may modulate a transition of neural network into bistable regime of activity with two stable firing levels and spontaneous transitions between them.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Nonlinear Dynamics of Living Systems, Institute of Applied Physics of Russian Academy of Science Nizhny Novgorod, Russia ; Laboratory of Brain Extracellular Matrix Research, University of Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.
authors.forename: S Yu
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Gordleeva
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Stasenko
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Semyanov
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Dityatev
authors.forename: V B
authors.initials: VB
authors.lastname: Kazantsev
keywords: astrocyte; neuron; neuronal network; regulation; synaptic transmission; tripartite synapse