Glia electrophysiology

Glia are essential to nervous system function. In the crustacean stomatogastric system we know almost nothing about the role of glia, with the exception of a putative role in extracellular pH buffering (Golowasch & Deitmer, 1993). Anatomically, glia are found wrapping some of the neuronal processes (Kilman & Marder, 1996), which suggests that they can affect neuronal function in important ways. We are using the patch clamp technique (figure above) to get access to the interior of glial cells and manipulate their voltage and biochemistry.

References

1. Golowasch, J. & Deitmer, J.W. (1993) pH regulation in the stomatogastric ganglion of the crab Cancer pagurus. J. Comparative. Physiology A, 172(5): 573-581 .

2. Kilman, V. & Marder, E. (1996) Ultrastructure of the Stomatogastric Ganglion Neuropil of the Crab, Cancer borealis.