Astrocyte-derived modulation of olfaction

星形胶质细胞是大脑中的活性成分，已被证明可以维持和调节神经元的功能。为此，星形胶质细胞配备了各种神经胶质递质、离子通道和受体，其中大部分与钙信号有关。我们的初步结果表明，在嗅球，光刺激表达视紫红质2的星形胶质细胞导致星形胶质细胞的钙信号和二尖瓣细胞的兴奋，二尖瓣细胞是嗅球的主要神经元。该项目的主要目的是展示对星形胶质细胞的光遗传刺激如何影响小鼠嗅球的神经元性能，从而调节气味信息处理，最终调节嗅觉行为。该项目的结果将有助于我们对神经胶质细胞在感觉信息处理中的作用的基础知识，这是神经科学中一个新的和快速增长的领域。

Astrocytes are active components of the brain that have been shown to maintain and modulate neuronal performance. For this purpose, astrocytes are equipped with a variety of gliotransmitters, ion channels and receptors, most of which are linked to calcium signaling. Our preliminary results indicate that in the olfactory bulb, photostimulation of channelrhodopsin2-expressing astrocytes results in calcium signals in astrocytes and excitation of mitral cells, principal neurons in the olfactory bulb. The main purpose of the project is to demonstrate how optogenetic stimulation of astrocytes affects neuronal performance in the mouse olfactory bulb, thereby modulating odor information processing and finally olfactory behavior. The results of the project will contribute to our basal knockledge about the role of glial cells in sensory information processing, a novel and rapidly growing field in neuroscience.