Realizing Synaptic Signal Transmission During Astrocyte-Neuron Interactions within the EMI Framework

Abstract The tripartite synapse or “neural threesome” refers to the interplay in between neighbouring neurons, synaptic cleft, and surrounding glial cells. Despite extensive research, effects of cells, such as astrocytes, on signal transduction neurons are not fully understood. Kirchhoff-Nernst- Planck (KNP) Extracellular-Membrane-Intracellular (EMI) models constitute a promising framework for modeling these kinds systems. However, they lack neurotransmitter-related mechanisms that necessary bridge across cleft. Here, we propose an extension KNP-EMI model by spatio-temporal diffusion-based description most prominent neurotransmitter, glutamate, allows investigation contribution astrocytes functionality synapse. We validate our showing presence astrocyte domain affects glutamate flux postsynaptic terminal, observed physiologically. proposed offers sufficiently simple way integrating dynamics into framework. It introduces relevant interactions electrical activity diffusion processes at assess how might contribute This work has implications future studies involving other charged species within