Astrocytes are neural cells of ectodermal, neuroepithelial origin that provide for homeostasis
and defense of the central nervous system (CNS). Astrocytes are highly heterogeneous in …

Astrocytes are critical for maintaining the homeostasis of the CNS. Increasing evidence
suggests that a number of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, including chronic …

Activation of glial cells and neuro–glial interactions are emerging as key mechanisms
underlying chronic pain. Accumulating evidence has implicated 3 types of glial cells in the …

Gap junctions comprise arrays of intercellular channels formed by connexin proteins and
provide for the direct communication between adjacent cells. This type of intercellular …

Connexins are ubiquitous channel forming proteins that assemble as plasma membrane
hemichannels and as intercellular gap junction channels that directly connect cells. In the …

Gap junctions are essential to the function of multicellular animals, which require a high
degree of coordination between cells. In vertebrates, gap junctions comprise connexins and …

Dynamic aspects of interactions between astrocytes, neurons and the vasculature have
recently been in the neuroscience spotlight. It has emerged that not only neurons but also …

Gap junctions are aggregates of intercellular channels that permit direct cell–cell transfer of
ions and small molecules. Initially described as low-resistance ion pathways joining …

For decades, astrocytes have been considered to be non-excitable support cells of the brain.
However, this view has changed radically during the past twenty years. The recent …

In the central nervous system (CNS), astrocytes form networks interconnected by gap
junctions made from connexins of the subtypes Cx30 and Cx43. When unopposed by an …