Neuron-glia structural and functional relations in neurogenic regions

LORENA RELA

Montevideo

Simposio; Aplicaciones de la Microscopía de Fluorescencia y Confocal en Biología; 2014

Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable

The olfactory system provides a good model to investigate mechanisms of circuit formation, maintenance and regeneration. In this system it has long been proposed that olfactory ensheathing glia associated with sensory neuron axons promotes axon growth and regeneration, however, mechanisms remain poorly explored. Here we show preliminary results indicating that 1. Ensheathing glia form gap junction mediated networks; 2. The degree of connectivity influences membrane properties of ensheathing glia and contributes to diversity of electrophysiological profiles; 3. The degree of gap junction coupling of ensheathing glia is spatially organized in the olfactory bulb; 4. Connexin 43 appear as a good candidate to mediate gap junction coupling among ensheathing glia; 5. Connexin 43 expression by ensheathing glia participates in the wiring of olfactory circuits. We contribute to the identification of mechanisms that contribute to elucidate the role of ensheathing glia in olfactory circuit wiring and propose that neural systems should be interpreted in terms of the interaction between neuronal and glial networks.