Regulation and function of cyclic GMP-mediated pathways in glial cells.

A large body of evidence supports a role for the NO-cGMP-protein kinase G pathway in the regulation of synaptic transmission and plasticity, brain development and neuroprotection. Circumstantial evidence implicates natriuretic peptide-stimulated cGMP formation in the same CNS functions. In addition to neurons, both cGMP-mediated pathways are functional in glial cells and an increasing number of reports indicate that they may control important aspects of glial cell physiology relevant to neuronal function. In this article we briefly review the regulation of cGMP formation in glial cells and summarize recent evidence indicating that cGMP-mediated pathways can play important roles in astroglial and microglial function in normal and diseased brain.