Electron microscopy localization of NCX1, 2, 3 isoform protein exchangers in neuronal astrocytes


https://doi.org/10.4081/microscopie.2009.4965
Vol. 12 No. 2 (2009)
Submitted: 15 January 2015
Accepted: 15 January 2015
Published: 30 September 2009
Na –Ca2 exchangers, synapses, glial cells, blood-brain barrier, immunohistochemistry.
Abstract Views: 478
PDF: 750
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

  • S. Salucci
    sara.salucci@uniurb.it
    Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Uomo, dell’Ambiente e Della Natura, Università degli Studi di Urbino “Carlo Bo”, Urbino, Italy.
  • A. Minelli Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Uomo, dell’Ambiente e Della Natura, Università degli Studi di Urbino “Carlo Bo”, Urbino, Italy.
  • P. Gobbi Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Uomo, dell’Ambiente e Della Natura, Università degli Studi di Urbino “Carlo Bo”, Urbino, Italy.
Na+/Ca2+ exchangers (NCX1, 2 and 3) play relevant role in neural cells, where variations of cytosolic Ca2+ concentration represent a pivotal event in many physiological and pathological processes. Astrocytes display a type of excitability based on changes in intracellular Ca2+ concentration. In the present study, electron microscopic immunohistochemistry was applied to investigate the expression of the three NCX1-3 protein isoforms, in astrocytes of cerebral cortex and hippocampus. Results showed that a conspicuous population of astrocytic cells expressed NCX1–3 in both brain areas. Immunolabeling for NCX1-3 was observed in many glial profiles of various size, notably in distal astrocytic processes in contiguity of synaptic structures, suggesting the involvement of NCX in shaping astrocytic [Ca]i transients evoked by adjacent synaptic activity. NCX1-3 immunoreactivities (irs) were expressed in astrocytic mitochondria, indicating an important contribution to mitochondrial Ca2+ regulation in this cell type in situ. In addition, all NCX isoforms were consistently expressed in perivascular astrocytic endfeet, suggesting an important role in regulating the barrier function of blood-brain barrier (BBB). Present immunomorphological work showed that in both brain regions all NCX isoforms were expressed in astrocytes, thus pointing to a widespread role of the three exchangers in maintaining Ca2+ homeostasis in glial cells and suggesting that distinct NCX isoforms may share analogous physiological roles in the brain in vivo.

Salucci, S., Minelli, A., & Gobbi, P. (2009). Electron microscopy localization of NCX1, 2, 3 isoform protein exchangers in neuronal astrocytes. Microscopie, 12(2), 46–53. https://doi.org/10.4081/microscopie.2009.4965

PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.

An Open Access Publication is one that meets the following two conditions:

  1. the author(s) and copyright holder(s) grant(s) to all users a free, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual right of access to, and a license to copy, use, distribute, transmit and display the work publicly and to make and distribute derivative works, in any digital medium for any responsible purpose, subject to proper attribution of authorship, as well as the right to make small numbers of printed copies for their personal use.
  2. a complete version of the work and all supplemental materials, including a copy of the permission as stated above, in a suitable standard electronic format is deposited immediately upon initial publication in at least one online repository that is supported by an academic institution, scholarly society, government agency, or other well-established organization that seeks to enable open access, unrestricted distribution, interoperability, and long-term archiving.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC