, 2011). The neurosecretory cells of the hypothalamus thus emerge as the best characterized model system to explore the dynamic neuromodulatory influences of pre- and postsynaptic P2X receptors (Figure 6). Astrocytes are increasingly recognized as important cellular elements within neuronal circuits not only for providing metabolic and structural support to neurons, but also for their ability to regulate neuronal function through a variety

of mechanisms (Attwell et al., 2010; Halassa and Haydon, 2010). Cortical astrocytes express functional P2X7 and P2X1/5 receptors (Lalo et al., 2008; Oliveira et al., 2011) in distinct populations of astrocytes in the somatosensory and prefrontal cortices, respectively, although genome-wide analysis of astrocyte mRNA expression did not reveal any VE-822 in vivo P2X receptor as Selleck C646 being particularly enriched within astrocytes (Cahoy et al., 2008). P2X1/5 receptors on cortical astrocytes may be activated by endogenous ATP release from neurons and mediate Ca2+ fluxes (Palygin et al., 2010). A recent study demonstrated that astrocytes utilize ATP signaling to

regulate cortical UP states, which are network-driven membrane depolarizations recorded from cortical neurons (Poskanzer and Yuste, 2011). During an UP state, the membrane potential is depolarized for hundreds of milliseconds and individual neurons fire bursts of action potentials. The available data do not allow one to conclude whether the key signals/events are mediated by astrocytic or neuronal P2X receptors; however, given that cortical astrocytes and neurons both express P2X receptors, this study provides strong evidence for how astrocytes function as the source of ATP to regulate Methisazone network phenomena that occur on a time scale of hundreds of milliseconds. In future studies, it will be interesting to explore the contributions of specific P2X receptors to cortical UP states using knockout mice and the emerging pharmacology of P2X receptors and thus attempt to correlate altered UP state dynamics with

possible behavioral deficits. Finally, one wonders if neuronal P2X receptor signaling scales synaptic efficacy within principal neurons or interneurons of the cortex and regulates the output of the cortical neurons, as seen in MCNs in the hypothalamus (Gordon et al., 2005, 2009). An important step in peripheral sensation is activation of P2X and P2Y receptors on primary afferent terminals. Such responses are fundamental to nociception (North, 2004) and in ventilatory responses to hypoxia mediated by the carotid body (Rong et al., 2003). Recent data suggest that ATP serves similar roles in the CNS and contributes to the regulation of respiratory drive. Hypercapnia (an increase in blood CO2; pCO2) increases breathing, and specific areas of the medulla function as central chemoreceptors (Feldman et al., 2003). Gourine and colleagues demonstrated ATP release in micromolar amounts from the ventral surface of the medulla during hypercapnia (Gourine et al.