Mechanism of anoxic depolarization in the brain disruption. Other consequential damage that occurs includes lipolysis, proteolysis, cell swelling, microtubule disaggregation, and DNA fragmentation. Neurons are more susceptible to brain ischemia than the supporting glial cells, because neurons have higher energy demand, conduct an action potential, and produce glutamate, whereas glial cells lack those properties. Yet neurons differ among themselves in their sensitivity to ischemia, depending on the specific properties they exhibit, relating to their locations in the brain. "Selective vulnerability" is the term used to describe how some parts of the brain are more sensitive to anoxia than others, and thus to ischemic insult. Anoxia-prone cells in
Satellite glial cell tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) are other cellular factors that work to sensitize neurons to pain. SGCs are present in the PNS in fewer numbers than other more well-known types of glial cells, like astrocytes, but have been determined to affect nociception because of some of their physiological and pharmacological properties. In fact, just like astrocytes, SGCs have the ability to sense and regulate neighboring neuronal activity. First, after a period of nerve cell injury, SGCs are known to up-regulate GFAP and to undergo cell division. They have the ability to release chemoattractants, which are analogous to those released by