Scientific Articles
Vol. 12 No. 2 (2009)
https://doi.org/10.4081/microscopie.2009.4965

Electron microscopy localization of NCX1, 2, 3 isoform protein exchangers in neuronal astrocytes

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Received: 15 January 2015
Published: 30 September 2009
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Na –Ca2 exchangers, synapses, glial cells, blood-brain barrier, immunohistochemistry.

Authors

S. Salucci
sara.salucci@uniurb.it
Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Uomo, dell’Ambiente e Della Natura, Università degli Studi di Urbino “Carlo Bo”, Urbino, Italy.
A. Minelli
Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Uomo, dell’Ambiente e Della Natura, Università degli Studi di Urbino “Carlo Bo”, Urbino, Italy.
P. Gobbi
Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Uomo, dell’Ambiente e Della Natura, Università degli Studi di Urbino “Carlo Bo”, Urbino, Italy.
Na+/Ca2+ exchangers (NCX1, 2 and 3) play relevant role in neural cells, where variations of cytosolic Ca2+ concentration represent a pivotal event in many physiological and pathological processes. Astrocytes display a type of excitability based on changes in intracellular Ca2+ concentration. In the present study, electron microscopic immunohistochemistry was applied to investigate the expression of the three NCX1-3 protein isoforms, in astrocytes of cerebral cortex and hippocampus. Results showed that a conspicuous population of astrocytic cells expressed NCX1–3 in both brain areas. Immunolabeling for NCX1-3 was observed in many glial profiles of various size, notably in distal astrocytic processes in contiguity of synaptic structures, suggesting the involvement of NCX in shaping astrocytic [Ca]i transients evoked by adjacent synaptic activity. NCX1-3 immunoreactivities (irs) were expressed in astrocytic mitochondria, indicating an important contribution to mitochondrial Ca2+ regulation in this cell type in situ. In addition, all NCX isoforms were consistently expressed in perivascular astrocytic endfeet, suggesting an important role in regulating the barrier function of blood-brain barrier (BBB). Present immunomorphological work showed that in both brain regions all NCX isoforms were expressed in astrocytes, thus pointing to a widespread role of the three exchangers in maintaining Ca2+ homeostasis in glial cells and suggesting that distinct NCX isoforms may share analogous physiological roles in the brain in vivo.

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Electron microscopy localization of NCX1, 2, 3 isoform protein exchangers in neuronal astrocytes. (2009). Microscopie, 12(2), 46-53. https://doi.org/10.4081/microscopie.2009.4965

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