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. 2009 Mar 11;29(10):3276–3287. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4707-08.2009

Figure 8.

Figure 8.

Human astrocytes can support faster calcium waves. A, Acute slice preparation of mouse cortex was loaded simultaneously with fluo-4 AM as well as NP-EGTA AM caged calcium. A single astrocyte (indicated as ×) was the target of photorelease of caged calcium in the presence of 1 μm TTX. The target cell increased its calcium with uncaging, and, subsequently, other astrocytes in the field also increased their intracellular calcium in a wave manner temporally (white arrows). The graph represents percentage change in fluorescence over time that is indicative of calcium concentrations. As one moves away from the target cell, the time-to-peak of calcium concentration increases, indicating a calcium wave. The target cell as well as other cells in the field returned to baseline calcium levels within seconds. Scale bar, 50 μm. B, Acute slice preparation of human temporal lobe cortex loaded with fluo-4 AM as well as NP-EGTA AM caged calcium. A single target astrocyte (×) underwent photorelease of caged calcium, resulting in a subsequent calcium wave. The graph represents change in fluorescence over time. Scale bar, 10 μm.