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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 577/1/249    most recent jphysiol.2006.117358v1 Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Steinmetz, C. C. Articles by Pfrieger, F. W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Steinmetz, C. C. Articles by Pfrieger, F. W. Related Collections Neuroscience

¹ Department Neurotransmission and Neuroendocrine Secretion, Institute for Cellular and Integrative Neurosciences (INCI), F-67084 Strasbourg, France

There is increasing evidence that synapse function depends on interactions with glial cells, namely astrocytes. Studies on specific neurons of the central nervous system (CNS) indicated that glial signals also control synapse development, but it remained unclear whether this is a general principle that applies to other neuronal cell types. To address this question, we developed new methods to immunoisolate neurons from different brain regions of postnatal mice and to culture them in a chemically defined medium. Electrophysiological recordings and immunocytochemical staining revealed vigorous synaptogenesis in hippocampal and cerebellar neurons, but not in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in the absence of glial cells. Co-culture with glia promoted synapse formation in RGCs as indicated by a strong increase in the incidence and frequency of action potential-independent miniature synaptic currents, but showed no such effects in hippocampal or cerebellar neurons. On the other hand, glial signals promoted the efficacy of excitatory synapses in all regions as indicated by an increase in the size of spontaneous synaptic events in cerebellar cultures and of miniature synaptic currents in hippocampal neurons and RGCs. Inhibitory synaptic currents remained largely unaffected by glia. Our results indicate that in the mammalian CNS, the way that glial signals promote the development of excitatory synapses depends on the type of neuron.

(Received 18 July 2006; accepted after revision 4 September 2006; first published online 7 September 2006)
Corresponding author F. W. Pfrieger: Dept Neurotransmission INCI, 5, rue Blaise Pascal, F-67084 Strasbourg, France. Email: fw-pfrieger{at}gmx.de