Topic: calcium signaling

Morphologically complex cells, such as astrocytes, shape brain function in ways that we do not yet fully understand. We present here a Blender-based toolkit CellRemorph (Keto & Manninen, 2023; https://github.com/lauraketo/CellRemorph) to address the specific challenges and requirements of building morphologically detailed astrocyte models that capture their complex and functionally relevant nanoscale architecture. The first tool in the CellRemorph toolkit enables precisely selecting nanoprocesses from polygonal surface meshes or surface point clouds, the second transforming polygonal surfa

Astrocytes are crucial mediators of brain function on a multimodal level such as energy metabolism or synapse formation and maturation. They form a vast network in the brain and signal both with each other and with neurons. Calcium is the primary information carrier in astrocytes and can be measured using fluorescent indicators. Therapeutic approaches for cognitive diseases are commonly designed to influence neurons, but neglect astrocytes, despite them accounting for half the mass of the brain.Here we use astrocytic calcium signals and recent advances in analysis to develop an astrocytic comp

Calcium, an important secondary messenger, lies at the hub of multiple signaling pathways. The increase in cytosolic calcium contributed by different calcium-permeable channels can create transient high-calcium microenvironments and activate distinct signaling cascades in neurons. The spatio-temporal calcium changes, and calcium-mediated signaling pathways act as critical regulators of synaptic plasticity. Here, we have studied the regulation of activity-mediated protein synthesis by calcium response generated on NMDAR or mGluR stimulation in rat primary cortical neurons. Using calcium imaging

Calcium is a key intracellular messenger that regulates many vital cellular processes. Calcium signals in oligodendrocytes, the myelinating glia of the CNS, are known to translate environmental information to cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation and myelination. Myelination is an adaptive process that depends on neuronal activity. We recently demonstrated that neuronal activity in vivo enhances remyelination in demyelinated lesions (Ortiz et al., 2019, JCI Insight). Here, we investigate whether calcium singal in oligodendroglia play a role in remyelination and whether beha

Astrocytes have a pivotal role in overseeing extracellular ion concentrations and synaptic neurotransmitters, profoundly influencing neuronal excitability, synaptic transmission, and behavior. Their intricate interactions with the vascular system and diverse calcium signaling mechanisms further amplify their impact on brain functions. Our prior work has involved exploring spike-timing-dependent plasticity using a synapse model with astrocyte contributions (Manninen et al., 2020). Additionally, we have studied in detail existing astrocyte models tailored for various brain areas and functions (M