Figure 2.

Representative example of the network simulation approach. (A) Simulated networks were based on real network geometries derived from the cell locations of imaged fields of spontaneously forming primary dissociated astrocyte networks. (B) The locations of each cell as a point source was then mapped onto a regular grid, preserving the native relative spatial relationship between each astrocyte in the visible network. (C) To run the simulations, modeled ATP diffusing from each cell (i.e., the intercellular paracrine component of the signaling cascade) was distributed between the four nearest neighbor grid points weighted by the distance to those grid points.