Figure 1.

Gap junction-mediated communication enlarges the loop of interaction between neurons (blue triangles) and astrocytes (green stars). Two situations are considered: a one-by-one relationship (A) and a networking that includes the propagation of intercellular signals between adjacent astrocytes (B). This later could occur thanks to calcium waves that involve GJCs, although other alternative pathways exist (see Scemes and Giaume, 2006). As a result, a signal triggered in the neuron on the left can affect the activity of a distant neuron on the right.