Paper Journal of Neuroscience

Angulo M.C., Audinat E. et al. (2004) "Glutamate Released from Glial Cells Synchronizes Neuronal Activity in the Hippocampus " The Journal of Neuroscience, 24(31):6920-6927
Slow transient current (STC) measured in CA1 neuron at +40mV is caused by the activation of NMDA receptors inresponse to glial glutamate release. Their kinetics is extremely slow compared with synaptic NMDA currents (rise time=100ms, decay time=600ms). Several evidences for the glial glutamate release are shown as follows: i) DHPG and PGE2 increase the frequency of STC. ii) STC is not affected by blocking of neuronal vesicular release (the vacuolar H+-ATPases inhibitor bafilomycin A1). iii)"mechanical" stimulation (suction with pipette) can cause STC. Interestingly, STC in two nearby CA1 neurons are synchronized, presumably due to the activation of a glia connecting to these neurons.