Novel astrocyte targets

During the last 20 years, it has been well established that a finely tuned, continuous crosstalk between neurons and astrocytes not only critically modulates physiological brain functions but also underlies many neurological diseases. In particular, this novel way of interpreting brain activity is markedly influencing our current knowledge of epilepsy, prompting a re-evaluation of old findings and guiding novel experimentation. Here, we review recent studies that have unraveled novel and unique contributions of astrocytes to the generation and spread of convulsive and nonconvulsive seizures and epileptiform activity. The emerging scenario advocates an overall framework in which a dynamic and reciprocal interplay among astrocytic and neuronal ensembles is fundamental for a fuller understanding of epilepsy. In turn, this offers novel astrocytic targets for the development of those really novel chemical entities for the control of convulsive and nonconvulsive seizures that have been acknowledged as a key priority in the management of epilepsy.

• Publication year

  2014

• Venue

  The Neuroscientist

• Publication date

  2014-03-07

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1177/1073858414523320PMID 24609207PMCID 4361461
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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