2023-09-12 16:07:48
by Health Editorial Staff
A third type of brain cell has been identified (in addition to neurons and glia) necessary for the proper functioning of the brain. Steps forward to understand the mechanisms underlying various neurological pathologies, therefore to develop new therapies
There are previously unknown cells in the brain that are essential for memory, learning and movement. They were discovered by an international group of researchers including Italian scholars from the University of Rome Tor Vergata and the Santa Lucia IRCCS Foundation in Rome, who published the research in the scientific journal Nature. The discovery – the hope of the authors of the study – will help to understand the mechanisms that lead to the development of various neurological pathologies, and therefore to new therapies.
I study
The group of researchers, directed by Andrea Volterra, professor emeritus at the University of Lausanne and visiting faculty at the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering in Geneva and former visiting scientist at the Santa Lucia Foundation, discovered that, in addition to neurons and glia – that is, the non-neuronal part of the brain that provides structure, nourishment and regulates the environment within the brain -, there is a third type of brain cells necessary for the proper functioning of the brain. These cells called glutamatergic astrocytes act on brain circuits related to memory, attention and movement control. The new cells, despite being among the components of glia, are different because they have neuronal characteristics and are able to put glutamate, a neurotransmitter, into circulation. A characteristic, never observed before this study, which places glutamatergic astrocytes halfway between glial cells and neuronal cells.
Learning, memory, movement control
One of the authors of the study, the pharmacologist and neuroscientist Ada Ledonne, researcher at the University of Rome Tor Vergata and at the Santa Lucia IRCCS Foundation (in the Experimental Neurology laboratory directed by the neurologist Nicola Biagio Mercuri), explains: The results obtained demonstrate that the Glutamatergic astrocytes influence neuronal activity, neurotransmission, and synaptic plasticity in important brain circuits, such as the cortico-hippocampal circuit and the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system, with implications in the regulation of learning and memory processes, movement control, and seizure onset. epileptic.
Greater knowledge of the functioning mechanisms of the brain
The identified cells are also involved in the mechanisms of neuronal synaptic plasticity, that is, in the mechanisms that regulate the strength of communication between neurons, the researchers explain. In particular, the study published in Nature demonstrates that glutamatergic astrocytes are essential for a form of plasticity (called long-term potentiation) that underlies learning processes. Interfering with the function of this new type of astrocytes in experimental models, in fact, causes memory damage. The identification of this new typology of brain cells with intermediate characteristics between astrocytes and neurons, the researchers explain, constitutes a notable advancement in the knowledge of the functioning mechanisms of the brain.
Treatment prospects for various neurological diseases
In the study published in Nature – adds Dr. Ledonne – an important role of glutamatergic astrocytes in the control of the brain circuit that regulates movement, the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system, whose functional alteration is at the basis of Parkinson’s disease, was also highlighted.
The results of the study, the researchers underline, will serve to better understand the mechanisms that lead to the development of various neurological pathologies and, therefore, will help to develop new therapies which, by acting on the newly discovered mechanism, may be able to influence the course of various brain diseases.
September 12, 2023 (modified September 12, 2023 | 3:38 pm)
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