Projects / Programmes
Mechanism of glutamate release from astrocytes
Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
3.03.00 |
Medical sciences |
Neurobiology |
|
Code |
Science |
Field |
B640 |
Biomedical sciences |
Neurology, neuropsychology, neurophysiology |
exocytosis, glutamate, astrocytes, electrophysiology, capacitance measurements
Researchers (4)
no. |
Code |
Name and surname |
Research area |
Role |
Period |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
1. |
06846 |
Sonja Grilc |
Neurobiology |
Researcher |
2000 - 2001 |
57 |
2. |
18825 |
PhD Irina Milisav Ribarič |
Neurobiology |
Researcher |
2000 - 2001 |
154 |
3. |
12266 |
PhD Marjan Slak Rupnik |
Metabolic and hormonal disorders |
Head |
1999 - 2001 |
350 |
4. |
03702 |
PhD Robert Zorec |
Neurobiology |
Researcher |
2000 - 2001 |
802 |
Organisations (1)
Abstract
During the last decade it became clear that glia may play dynamic roles in the nervous system. Rather then being only supporting cells, it is now evident that some glial cells can release neurotransmitters, such as glutamate. However, the mechanism of neurotransmitter release is not known. To explore the hypothesis that calcium-regulated glutamate release is mediated by exocytosis, we will monitor changes in surface membrane area using capacitance measurements. The sensitivity of this technique allows the detection of fusion of unitary synaptic-like vesicles with the plasmamembrane. We will correlate electrophysiological measurements with optically detected glutamate. Clostridial toxins, which target SNARE proteins, will be used to determine whether SNARE proteins are necessary for calcium-dependent glutamate release.