Enteric glia and purinergic signaling in health and disease

Abstract

We celebrate the life of our colleague Francesco Di Virgilio, who in his very last public lecture discussed purinergic signaling in neuroglia in physiology and pathophysiology. Here, we write on a subset of a unique type of peripheral neuroglia, enteric glia that accompany enteric neurons in the enteric nervous system of the gut and act to maintain homeostasis in enteric neurocircuits. Bi-directional communication between enteric neurons and glia is majorly mediated by purines. Enteric glia also play central roles in regulating the availability of extracellular purines in enteric circuits. Changes in glial purinergic signaling and control mechanisms contribute to neuroplasticity and disease susceptibility in inflammatory contexts. This review summarizes the current state of the field in understanding how enteric glia are involved in purinergic signaling in the enteric nervous system.