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Brain edema formation and the ensuing brain damages are the major cause of high mortality and long term disability following the occurrence of ischemic stroke. In this process, oxygen and glucose deprivation and the ensuing reperfusion injury play primary roles. In response to the ischemic insult, the neurovascular unit experiences both intracellular and extracellular edemas; the two processes are interactive closely under the driving of maladapted astrocytic plasticity. The astrocytic plasticity includes both morphologic and functional plasticity. The former involves a reactive gliosis and the ensuing glial retraction. It relates to the capacity of astrocytes to buffer changes in extracellular chemical levels, particularly K+ and glutamate, as well as the integrity of the blood-brain barrier. The latter involves the expression and activity of a series of ion and water transport proteins. These molecules are grouped together around glial fibrillary acidic protein and water channel protein aquaporin 4 to form functional networks, regulate hydromineral balance across cell membranes and maintain the integrity of the blood-brain barrier. Intense ischemic challenges can disrupt these capacities of astrocytes and result in their maladaptation. The maladapted astrocytic plasticity in ischemic stroke cannot only disrupt the hydromineral homeostasis across astrocyte membrane and the blood-brain barrier, but also lead to disorders of the whole neurovascular unit. This review focuses on how the maladapted astrocytic plasticity in ischemic stroke plays the central role in the brain edema formation.

Accumulating evidence during the last decade established that D-serine is a key signaling molecule utilized by neurons and astroglia in the mammalian central nervous system. D-serine is increasingly appreciated as the main physiological endogenous coagonist for synaptic NMDA receptors at central excitatory synapses; it is mandatory for long-term changes in synaptic strength, memory, learning, and social interactions. Alterations in the extracellular levels of D-serine leading to disrupted cell-cell signaling are a trademark of many chronic or acute neurological (i.e. Alzheimer disease, epilepsy, stroke) and psychiatric (i.e. schizophrenia) disorders, and are associated with addictive behavior (i.e. cocaine addiction). Indeed, fine tuning of the extracellular levels of D-serine, achieved by various molecular machineries and signaling pathways, is necessary for maintenance of accurate NMDA receptor functions. Here, we review the experimental data supporting the notion that astroglia and neurons use different pathways to regulate levels of extracellular D-serine.

Glial cells of C. elegans can modulate neuronal activity and behavior, which is the focus of this review. Initially, we provide an overview of neuroglial evolution, making a comparison between C. elegans glia and their genealogical counterparts. What follows is a brief discussion on C. elegans glia characteristics in terms of their exact numbers, germ layers origin, their necessity for proper development of sensory organs, and lack of their need for neuronal survival. The more specific roles that various glial cells have on neuron-based activity/behavior are succinctly presented. The cephalic sheath glia are important for development, maintenance and activity of central synapses, whereas the amphid glia seem to set the tone of sensory synapses; these glial cell types are ectoderm-derived. Mesoderm-derived GLR glia appear to be a part of the circuit for production of motor movement of the worm anterior. Finally, we discuss tools and approaches utilized in studying C. elegans glia, which are an extension of those experimental assets available for this animal, making it an appealing model, not only in neurosciences, but in biology in general.

The hippocampus is central to our understanding of memory formation and retrieval. Its CA1 region is known for encoding contextual memory. Here, using a computational approach, which embeds existing physiological data, we propose a particular role of astrocytes in contextual memory retrieval. We provide a quantitative framework under which the astrocyte modulates firing of the context-associated CA1 pyramidal neurons, resulting in a prominent tuning of neurons to the delta rhythm. Using the very framework, we further studied astrocyte function in modulation of neuronal firing under pathological conditions, i.e. during astrocytic induction of epileptiform discharge in CA1 pyramidal neurons. Thus, we provide a quantitative framework that would aide understanding of the Schaffer collateral-CA1 tripartite synapse in heath and disease.

The complexity of the signaling network that underlies astrocyte-synapse interactions may seem discouraging when tackled from a theoretical perspective. Computational modeling is challenged by the fact that many details remain hitherto unknown and conventional approaches to describe synaptic function are unsuitable to explain experimental observations when astrocytic signaling is taken into account. Supported by experimental evidence is the possibility that astrocytes perform genuine information processing by means of their calcium signaling and are players in the physiological setting of the basal tone of synaptic transmission. Here we consider the plausibility of this scenario from a theoretical perspective, focusing on the modulation of synaptic release probability by the astrocyte and its implications on synaptic plasticity. The analysis of the signaling pathways underlying such modulation refines our notion of the tripartite synapse and has profound implications on our understanding of brain function.