About this Research Topic
By following its mission to freely disseminate high-quality research with a worldwide reach, Frontiers in Non-neuronal cells will continue to play a key role in accelerating the progress of Cellular Neuroscience research and making Open Science a global reality.
This Research Topic article collection focuses on Heterogeneity in astrocyte morphology. Astrocytes can differ in functional gap junctional coupling, expression of transmitter receptors, membrane currents, and glutamate transporters. This is a relatively new and exciting area of research that Frontiers is excited to host a Research Topic on.
The Research Topic welcome contributions from researchers around the globe in the form of Original Research, Review, Mini Review, and Perspectives focusing on, but not limited to the following subtopics:
• Morphological heterogeneity in different brain regions
• Morphological differences between human and rodent astrocytes
• Their roles in the central neuro axis and investigating how astrocytes can be used to represent a cellular target for therapies aiming to restore neural circuit integrity in neurodegenerative disorders
• Investigating the true extent of heterogeneity in their regional and subregional functions
• Heterogeneity of membrane currents
• Heterogeneity in glutamate receptor expression
• Heterogeneity in expression of other transmitter receptors
• Heterogeneity in glutamate transporter expression
• Heterogeneity in gap junction coupling
• Heterogeneity in Ca2+ signaling
• Heterogeneity in volume regulation
• Comparison of the physiological behaviour of these cells
• Examining how astrocytic functions are locally specified and defining the molecular controls upon astrocytic fate and establishing how evolutionary changes in astrocytes can contribute to higher cognitive functions
Keywords: Astrocytes, Heterogeneity, Morphological
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.