Beyond the Neuron Flashcards
Brain cell classification flow diagram (10)
Excitable: Neurons
Non-excitable:
1) Non-Neuronal cells
-> Microglial
2) Neural Cells
-> CNS –> Macroglial (Astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, NG2 cells) + Ependymal cells
-> PNS –> Schwann cells + satellite cells + enteric glial cells
Central Neuroglia + functions (3 + 6)
Astrocytes
Microglia
Oligodendrocytes
Glia:
- control the formation of synaptic circuits
-refine and remodel synapses and circuits
-can coordinate circuit wide neuronal differentiation
-regulate synapse formation and pruning
-adjust synaptic communication and plasticity
-regulation of ion homeostasis affects circuit function
Astrocytes info (8)
Star-shaped and versatile
-Most numerous cell type in the brain - 30-50% of brain volume
-Guide the migration of developing neurons
-Act as K+ buffers and maintains homeostasis
-Involved in the formation of the BBB
-Function in nutrient transfer - >90% glutamate uptake
-Synaptogenesis and synaptic remodelling
Specialized Astrocytes:
Bergmann’s glial cell
Muller cell
pituicyte
Oligodendrocytes info (5)
—-‘’few-branch’’ glia —–
- Myelination begins during fetal development, but proceeds most rapidly in infancy
- One oligo myelinates many CNS axons
- Target of autoimmune attack in MS
Specific oligodendrocyte myelin proteins:
PLP
DM20
MBP
Microglia info (7)
- Microglia invade the brain shortly after birth= (forming “microglial fountains”)
- disseminates relatively evenly throughout brain parenchyma
and acquire an idiosyncratic “resting” or “surveillant” phenotype - Synaptic modification by microglial cells
- Microglia can phagocytose “weak” synapses => developing and adult-born neurons
- Microglial ILGF- 1 and BDNF = key mediators of synaptic plasticity
- The brain’s immune cell
- Release reactive oxygen products + inflammatory
molecules triggered by DAMP’s
What are the Embryonic germ layers involved following neurulation? (2)
Ectoderm: Astrocyte and oligodendrocytes
Mesoderm: Microglia and macrophages
Why does Neurogenesis have an adaptive function in adults? (2)
Neurogenesis in adult brain has an adaptive function because newly produced neurons can integrate into and modify existing neuronal circuits
This continual supply of new neurons and glia then provides the postnatal and adult brain with an added capacity for cellular plasticity, although one that is restricted to a few specific zones within the brain
Neural stem cell niche definition (2)
Defines a zone in which the stem cells are retained after embryonic development for the production of new cells of the nervous system
Critical to the maintenance of the stem cell niche are microenvironmental cues and cell-cell interactions that act to balance stem cell quiescence with proliferation and to direct neurogenesis versus gliogenesis lineage decisions
Describe neurogenesis steps (4)
During development of the vertebrate CNS:
1) Neural tube
2) Neural stem cell niche
3) neurons are generated first
4) glial cells generated second -> astrocytes or oligodendrocytes
What is repressed after neurogenesis? (2)
gliogenesis
via epigenetic silencing of genes that are necessary for astrocyte formation via DNA methylation and/or chromatin modifications.
What does the neocortex of the adult brain consist of? (1)
neurons and glia that are generated by precursor cells of the embryonic ventricular zone.
Radial glia facts (3)
- Radial glia are generated before neurogenesis and guide neuronal migration.
- Radial glia are mitotically active throughout neurogenesis, and disappear or become astrocytes when neuronal migration is complete.
-It has been suggested that radial glia may be neuronal precursors
Cell generation steps (4)
1) Neuroepithelium
2) Neurogenesis
3) Gliogenesis
4) Postnatal
Gliogenesis steps (6)
1) Neuroepithelial cells (neuroectodermal cells) form the wall of the closedneural tubein earlyembryonic development
2) Neuroepithelial cells proliferate and generate neuroblasts and immature neurons
3) They then differentiate into radial glia which proliferate and elongate
4) - Radial glia in the cortex contribute to neurogenesis directly orviaimmediate neuronal precursor cells
- Cortical and spinal cord radial glia contribute to gliogenesis by producing astrocytes and oligodendrocytes
- Some radial glia may also differentiate into ependymal cells which line the ventricles of the adult CNS
5) Towards the end of gliogenesis, many radial glia differentiate directly into mature astrocytes
- Subtypes of radial glia with distinct neurogenic and gliogenic potentials have been described, and radial glia-derived progenitors persist through adulthood and give rise to adult neural stem cells
In addition to cells derived from the neuroepithelium, microglia, derived from erythromyeloidprogenitors enter the vertebrate CNS early in development at the onset of neurogenesis, and subsequently proliferate and migrate to colonise the entire brain and spinal cord
What do neuroepithelial progenitors do during the embryonic period? (3)
They take on characteristics of astrocytes
(including the expression of factors such as glutamate transporters, glycogen granules, and intermediate filaments)
These neuroeiptheial cell derived “radial glia” go on to generate neurons during embryonic stages of mammalian development, and then switch to generating mature glia (either directly by generating proliferating astrocytes, or through generation of intermediate progenitors, such as OPCs)