Beyond Neurotransmission: Emerging Roles of Neurotransmitters in Regulating Morphological, Biochemical, and Functional Properties of Glial and Immune Cells in Healthy and Disease States

Dear Colleagues,

For a long time, neurotransmitters have been considered solely as chemical messengers at the forefront of neuronal transmission, being produced by presynaptic neurons and released at synapses to establish neuron-to-neuron communication via post-synaptic receptor binding. However, emerging studies have determined that several neurotransmitters, along with their binding receptors, are also abundantly expressed in glial and immune cells of the central nervous system (CNS), where they produce a barrage of different biological activities, especially in the CNS. Interestingly, several of these activities seem to be pivotal in regulating CNS homeostasis in healthy individuals, and their disruptions are associated with the development of a spectrum of mental illnesses, including mood disorders and neurodegenerative conditions such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s disease.

In this Topical Collection, our attention will be focused on unveiling the noncanonical roles of neurotransmitters (and their receptors) in CNS glial and immune cells. The primary goal of this collection will be to put together a series of studies that will help to elucidate how neurotransmitter–glia interaction plays an essential role in the development of different mental illnesses and neurodegenerative disorders. The final goal is to shed more light into the complex role of neurotransmitters in the CNS.

Dr. Alessandro Castorina
Collection Editor

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