Voltage-gated ion channels in Schwann cells and glia

Abstract

In the past decade, particularly its last half, it has become clear that the satellite cells of the nervous system (oligodendrocytes and astrocytes in the CNS, Schwann cells in the PNS) are liberally endowed with a vast array of voltage-gated ion channels. These original observations of the various channel types have been followed by the elucidation in considerable detail of the electrophysiological characteristics of the channels. Virtually all of the types of voltage-gated channel found in neurons have now also been found in the various populations of satellite cells. In spite of this, the intriguing questions concerning the physiological function of these channels remain to be fully elucidated.