Glia in Concert (18th CNS Annual meeting)
- Professor Chenju Yi co-chairs international symposium at CNS 2025 -
At the 18th Annual Meeting of the Chinese Neuroscience Society (CNS 2025) held in Xi’An, Professor Chenju Yi co-chaired a high-profile symposium titled “S49: Interglial Signaling in Health and Disease — Pas de Trois of Astrocytes, Oligodendrocytes, and Microglia.”
This session was co-organized with renowned neuroglial biologist Professor Alexei Verkhratsky, and gathered leading experts from China and abroad to explore emerging insights into glial communication and its roles in brain health and disease.
The symposium highlighted the latest advances in understanding how astrocytes,oligodendrocytes, and microglia coordinate to maintain brain homeostasis and how their interactions in neurological disorders. Talks covered a wide spectrum —from the molecular foundations of glial neuronal signaling to translational strategies targeting neuroinflammation.
Speakers included:
· Alexei Verkhratsky (The University of Manchester, UK): Pathophysiology ofthe brain—fundamental role of glial–glial and glial–neuronal interactions
· Matthew Guy Holt (Instituto de Investigação eInovação em Saúde, University of Porto, Portugal): Astrocyte heterogeneity and its impact on neuronal circuit function in health and disease
· Chenju Yi (The Seventh Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University): Novel functions of neuroglial connexins in brain development and diseases
· Weina Jin (Beijing Tiantan Hospital, CapitalMedical University): Targeting neuroinflammation in NMOSD
· Jianqin Niu (Third Military Medical University): Oligodendroglial precursors and mental disorders
Professor Yi’s presentation focused on connexin-mediated intercellular communication —a crucial but underexplored mechanism regulating glial–glial and glial – neuronal interactions during brain development and in neurodegenerative diseases.
The symposium reflected an ongoing effort to integrate glial biology into main stream neuroscience and to foster global collaboration in this rapidly advancing field. Through shared insights, the session underscored the idea that understanding brain disorders requires decoding the glial connectome — the communication network among GLIAS.