What is the extracellular calcium concentration within brain synapses?

Calcium (Ca2+) is essential for the normal functioning of the brain and Ca2+ influx depends on the gradient for this ion across the plasma membrane, and slight fluctuations of extracellular Ca2+ concentration have significant impact on axonal excitability, synaptic transmission, and plasticity. This Editorial highlights the work by Forsberget  al. who report a concentration of physiologically active Ca2+ in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that is half of that normally used in artificial CSF in electrophysiological brain slice experiments. We now discuss these new findings in the context of the spatial organization of synapses, on the role of astrocytes in filtering the synaptic content and on the complexity of plasticity in a broad context of metaplastic modifications of synaptic efficiency. AbstractCalcium (Ca2+) is essential for the normal functioning of the brain: Ca2+ inflow into synaptic compartments is a major trigger of neurotransmitter release and of long ‐term plastic changes of synaptic efficiency. Ca2+ influx depends on the gradient for this ion across the plasma membrane, and slight fluctuations of extracellular Ca2+ concentration have significant impact on axonal excitability, synaptic transmission, and plasticity. The work by Forsberget  al. reports a concentration of physiologically active Ca2+ in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that is half of that normally used in artificial CSF in electrophysiological brain slice experiments. By studying the impact of su...
Source: Journal of Neurochemistry - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Editorial Highlight Source Type: research