ArticleGlia2016
Gap junction coupling confers isopotentiality on astrocyte syncytium.
Article in Glia, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 89 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
89 citing papers in PubMed, 135 citations in OpenAlex.
- Astrocytes in Neurodegeneration: Spatial States, Crosstalk, and Emerging Therapies.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- Artificial Gap Junctional Channel Inhibiting the Proliferation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2026Article
- The multiple scales of astrocytic functional units.Nature neuroscience · 2026Review
- Membrane voltage multistability in coupled glial cells.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Diverse roles of connexins in the neuro-vasculature in homeostasis and disease.Translational neuroscience · 2026Review
- Glial syncytial control fields and the low-frequency resonome of the human brain.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- Top-down perspectives on cell membrane potential and protein transcription.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Astrocytic Connexin43 Channels Are Essential for Breathing Pattern Stabilization in the preBötzinger Complex.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2025Article
- Review
- Age-Dependent Redistribution of the Life-Important Enzyme in the Retina: Adult Müller Glial Cells' Endfeet Lack Spermine Synthase Expression.Biomolecules · 2025Article
- Connexin43 and Its Regulation of Astrocyte Gap Junction Function: Influencing Depression Progression by Mediating Electrical and Chemical Signals.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2025Review
- Article
- Glial Versus Neuronal NaGlia · 2025Article
- Astrocytopathy Is Associated with CA1 Synaptic Dysfunction in a Mouse Model of Down Syndrome.Cells · 2025Article
- The Astroglia Syncytial Theory of Consciousness.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Astrocyte gap junctions and KFrontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2025Article
- Astrocytic G Protein-Coupled Receptors in Drug Addiction.Engineering (Beijing, China) · 2025Article
- Astrocytes and Tinnitus.Brain sciences · 2024Review
- Depolarization induces calcium-dependent BMP4 release from mouse embryonic palate mesenchymal cells.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Constructing artificial gap junctions to mediate intercellular signal and mass transport.Nature chemistry · 2024Article
29 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Astrocytes are extensively coupled through gap junctions into a syncytium. However, the basic role of this major brain network remains largely unknown. Using electrophysiological and computational modeling methods, we demonstrate that the membrane potential (VM) of an individual astrocyte in a hippocampal syncytium, but not in a single, freshly isolated cell preparation, can be well-maintained at quasi-physiological levels when recorded with reduced or K(+) free pipette solutions that alter the K(+) equilibrium potential to non-physiological voltages. We show that an astrocyte's associated syncytium provides powerful electrical coupling, together with ionic coupling at a lesser extent, that equalizes the astrocyte's VM to levels comparable to its neighbors. Functionally, this minimizes VM depolarization attributable to elevated levels of local extracellular K(+) and thereby maintains a sustained driving force for highly efficient K(+) uptake. Thus, gap junction coupling functions to achieve isopotentiality in astrocytic networks, whereby a constant extracellular environment can be powerfully maintained for crucial functions of neural circuits.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.