Essays on Glia

The nervous system can be divided into two groups: the central nervous system (CNS), which comprises of the brain the spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system (PNS), which consists of the nerves. Nervous tissue consists of two types of cells: the nerve cells and supporting glial cells (or simply glia). Glia have different types and outnumber nerve cells. In the CNS, astrocytes provide structural support for neurons, regulate the extracellular concentrations of neurotransmitters and ions, and facilitate information transfer at synapses. Radial glia is critical in the development of the nervous system. Both astrocytes and radial glia can ...

The article under study is Expression of mutant p53 proteins implicates a lineage relationship between neural stem cells and malignant astrocytic glioma in a murine model.

Glioblastoma is referred to as the most cancerous type of astrocytic gliomas and the most commonly occurring chief brain cancer in adults. Due to the weak prognosis of glioblastoma, there is an urgent need for a better and profound understanding of disease pathogenesis. The article presents a demonstration of the fact that p53 deficiency is capable of cooperating with various mitogenic signalling pathways for inducing malignant glioma. As an example, it is not necessary to deactivate the ...

Discuss in detail the mechanism of action of named antiepileptic agents with reference to the relative clinical success of a particular mechanism in the treatment of epilepsy Carbamazepine is a Sodium channel Blocker. It is the major first line antiepileptic drug. It is used for the treatment of partial seizures and generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Carbamazepine blocks sodium channels during rapid, sustained neuronal firing. It also prevents post-tetanic potentiation. Phenytoin is also another first-line drug for the treatment of partial and secondary generalized seizures. Its mechanism of action is to block the movement of ions through the sodium channels during ...