Call for papers
The Journal of Physiology
Beyond support: glia as drivers of nervous system physiology
Submission deadline: Friday 1 February 2027
Emerging work reveals that astrocytes execute integrative, computation-like operations that shape circuit dynamics. Microglia, long framed by immune surveillance and synaptic pruning, are now recognised to play key roles extending across development and disease. Oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) display striking molecular and functional heterogeneity and act beyond myelination to influence angiogenesis, neuronal development, and circuit remodelling. Myelinating oligodendrocytes are increasingly implicated in disorders beyond multiple sclerosis, including Alzheimer’s disease. In parallel, glia-targeted gene therapies are advancing towards clinical application. A dedicated special issue is thus timely to consolidate recent discoveries and propose avenues for future directions in physiology.
This special issue will combine a collection of Original Research Articles and Topical Reviews from experts in the field of glia physiology. We are interested in in vitro, preclinical/animal, and clinical/human studies investigating the importance of glia cells in the nervous system at various spatial and temporal scales in health and disease.
Topics for this call for papers include, but are not restricted to:
Fundamental glia physiology: signalling, metabolism, genetic/morphological identity of glia cells
- Glia cell interaction within the nervous system with glia and neurons
- Glia role in brain development, synaptic transmission, and regulation of brain networks and behaviour
- (Patho)physiological responses to injury and importance in disease
- Pioneering approaches to advancing human glia cell research and novel technologies to study glial biology.
- Computational and theoretical models and approaches to glia physiology
Guest Editors:
- Valentina Mosienko
School of Psychology and Neuroscience
University of Bristol, UK - Isabel Christie
Division of Clinical Medicine
University of Sheffield, UK - Stavros Vagionitis
Cambridge Stem Cell Institute
University of Cambridge, UK - Michael Dolan
Smurfit Institute of Genetics
School of Genetics and Microbiology
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Submission Guidelines/Instructions
Please refer to the Author Guidelines to prepare your manuscript.
If you wish to submit a paper to this special issue, please contact the Guest Editors, indicating your interest, including a working title and 3-4 sentence description of the proposed content.
All submissions will undergo standard peer review, and accepted papers will be published ‘In Press’ upon final acceptance and will be fully citable.
There are no publication charges and no page limits for all articles.
Submissions should be made online via The Journal of Physiology submission site.
During submission, please indicate when prompted and in the Comments box that you wish your paper to be considered for the ‘Beyond support: glia as drivers of nervous system physiology’ special issue