[3Ca01-05] Soft-nanotechnology for brain science and biological systems: Soft Nanotechnology Division's Session

[3Ca03] Environmental arrangements for the synaptic transmission from a glial perspective

*Shutaro Katsurabayashi¹ (1. Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Fukuoka University)

Information processing in the brain is performed by not only neurons but also glial cells. Especially, a major glial cell type, astrocyte, is in charge of the formation and maturation of synapses in order to establish a sustainable synaptic transmission in the brain. There is a potential possibility that the number of astrocytes determines the intricate brain function in which a higher animal’s brain has a higher density of astrocytes. In this symposium, we show the primary co-culture system of the autaptic single hippocampal neuron with dot-cultured cortical astrocytes, where experimentally modified the density of astrocytes surrounding a single neuron. We also present that a hippocampal neuron with a high density of astrocytes increases excitatory synaptic transmission compared with a low density of astrocytes, which is accompanied by an increment of the readily releasable pool. In light of the heterogeneity of synaptic transmission underlying the presynaptically active synapse and silent synapse, pre-determining the region of synaptic connection would be an important key factor in creating an efficient neural circuit artificially.