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The Astrocyte-Synapse Relationship in Stratum Radiatum

In the cerebellum, Bergmann glia completely ensheath most parallel fiber-Purkinje cell synapses. In the hippocampus, however, relationships between astrocytes and synapses are much more variable. Only 60% of the synapses in stratum radiatum of hippocampal area CA1 have any astrocytic coverage at all around their spine-axon interface. The amount of coverage ranges from 1% to 100%. Click on one of the synapses above to see the degree to which it is surrounded by the astrocyte.

For more quantitative details see:

Ventura R, Harris KM (1999) Three-dimensional relationships between hippocampal synapses and astrocytes. J Neuroscience 19(16):6897-6906. (888K PDF)

• Astrocyte alone
• Astrocyte with dendrite
• Astrocyte with dendrite and synapsing boutons
• Astrocyte with dendritic spines and boutons
• Dendrite with ultrastructure of some synapses
• Dendrite and its synapsing boutons
• The set of dendritic spines and synapsing boutons
• VRML of astrocyte

Last Updated: 3/2/06