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Science 26 January 2001:
Vol. 291. no. 5504, pp. 569 - 570
DOI: 10.1126/science.291.5504.569A
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News of the Week

NEUROSCIENCE:
Glia Tell Neurons to Build Synapses

Laura Helmuth

Although glia account for 90% of the cells in the adult human brain, they've been written off as simple scaffolding that supports neurons, as sources of nutrition, or as a waste-disposal mechanism for sopping up extra ions and neurotransmitter molecules. But a new study on page 657 shows that glia play a more important role in neuron-to-neuron communication: They tell neurons to start talking to one another.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Insights into glutamate transport regulation in human astrocytes: Cloning of the promoter for excitatory amino acid transporter 2 (EAAT2).
Z.-z. Su, M. Leszczyniecka, D.-c. Kang, D. Sarkar, W. Chao, D. J. Volsky, and P. B. Fisher (2003)
PNAS 100, 1955-1960
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