astrocytes...

[imapremed]

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i know that astrocytes can release neurotransmitters but... its not a neuron right? sort of like certain receptors (rod cells) that are not neurons but secrete neurotransmitters?

you think its also a graded potential like rod cells here?

also on a side note... can Vmax increase if i increase the number of enyzmes and have say enough substrate to add to each enzyme i add (increaseing the total vmax)?

 

[salim271]

For astrocytes, all i know is that they can pick up stray neurotransmitters and deposit them back into neurons, and I have no idea what rod cells are 😵

For Vmax, if you increase the number of enzymes then the Vmax will increase because more substrate is being converted over time due to more active sites open.

Edit: I searched rod cells, I know what they are, but I have no idea about how their action potentials work.

 

[gunj122]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20300101 read the second to last sentence of the abstract.

from my neuroscience course, astrocytes are NOT involved in generating action potentials. their main role is to uptake excess neurotransmitter in the synapse, recycle it, and send it back to the pre-synaptic neuron. therefore, astrocytes don't produce graded or any type of potentials. there is huge networking in astrocytes involving calcium channels so that they communicate in coordination.

and for your second question, i'm pretty sure Vmax, in the absence of an inhibitor, is proportional to the concentration of enzyme.

 

[imapremed]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20300101 read the second to last sentence of the abstract.

from my neuroscience course, astrocytes are NOT involved in generating action potentials. their main role is to uptake excess neurotransmitter in the synapse, recycle it, and send it back to the pre-synaptic neuron. therefore, astrocytes don't produce graded or any type of potentials. there is huge networking in astrocytes involving calcium channels so that they communicate in coordination.

and for your second question, i'm pretty sure Vmax, in the absence of an inhibitor, is proportional to the concentration of enzyme.

ahh **** thanks dude. always wanted to know that... and the second question too that works with me..

if you could help me out with this one ... what brain functions should i know.. like what part does what - i always confuse the crap out of myself when i read it in textbooks cuz like so many parts overlap i know the basics like cerebreullum filter coordination, hypothalamus - thermosstat, but do you happen to have a list by any chance?

thanks man,
greatly appreciate it - i've got a little over a month left =/

 

[imapremed]

For astrocytes, all i know is that they can pick up stray neurotransmitters and deposit them back into neurons, and I have no idea what rod cells are 😵

For Vmax, if you increase the number of enzymes then the Vmax will increase because more substrate is being converted over time due to more active sites open.

Edit: I searched rod cells, I know what they are, but I have no idea about how their action potentials work.

yeah rod cells do NOT create action potentials - they are graded potentials, receptors that send out action potentials are like the smell receptor in the nose (the taste bud receptors are graded as well) - THE SMELL RECEPTORS ARE NEURONS THEMSELVES like pain receptors - neat huh? lol pain receptors send action potentials too!