Ghanim Ullah: Determining the Role of NCX1 in Neurons and Astrocytes During Ischemic Stroke
Ghanim Ullah, Professor Of Physics at the University of South Florida, shared on LinkedIn about a recent article he and his colleagues co-authored, published in JCI Insight, adding:
”Our new study determines the cell type-specific role of the sodium-calcium exchanger (NCX1) in neurons and astrocytes during ischemic stroke — now published in JCI Insight!
During stroke, spreading depolarizations (SDs) — waves of near-complete ion gradient collapse — drive calcium overload and glutamate release, worsening brain injury.
NCX1 has been implicated in this process, but whether its role differs between neurons and astrocytes was unknown.
Using a mouse stroke model and computational modeling, we found that
- Neuronal NCX1 plays a detrimental role in stroke by promoting SD susceptibility, calcium overload, and glutamate release.
- Astrocytic NCX1 plays a protective role by limiting neuronal calcium accumulation and attenuating glutamate elevation.
These findings reveal that the same transporter can have fundamentally opposite consequences depending on cell type — an important consideration for NCX-targeted stroke therapies.
Congratulations to the whole team on this great work!”
Title: Neuronal and astrocytic sodium-calcium exchanger differentially regulates calcium and sodium overload during ischemic stroke
Authors: Somayyeh Hamzei Taj, Pawan Kumar Thapaliya, Cordula Rakers, Niklas J. Gerkau, Christine R. Rose, Ghanim Ullah, Gabor C. Petzold
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