Behaviorally consequential astrocytic regulation of neural circuits

Jun Nagai; Xinzhu Yu; Thomas Papouin; Eunji Cheong; Marc R Freeman; Kelly R Monk; Michael H Hastings; Philip G Haydon; David Rowitch; Shai Shaham; Baljit S Khakh

doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2020.12.008

Behaviorally consequential astrocytic regulation of neural circuits

Neuron. 2021 Feb 17;109(4):576-596. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.12.008. Epub 2020 Dec 31.

Authors

Jun Nagai¹, Xinzhu Yu², Thomas Papouin³, Eunji Cheong⁴, Marc R Freeman⁵, Kelly R Monk⁵, Michael H Hastings⁶, Philip G Haydon⁷, David Rowitch⁸, Shai Shaham⁹, Baljit S Khakh¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1751, USA; RIKEN Center for Brain Science, 2-1 Hirosawa Wako City, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
² Department of Physiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1751, USA; Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 514 Burrill Hall, 407 S. Goodwin Ave, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
³ Department of Neuroscience, Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine, Campus Box 8108, 660 South Euclid Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
⁴ Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Science and Biotechnology, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, South Korea.
⁵ The Vollum Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
⁶ MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK.
⁷ Department of Neuroscience, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
⁸ Department of Paediatrics, Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Departments of Pediatrics and Neurosurgery, Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
⁹ Laboratory of Developmental Genetics, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Physiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1751, USA; Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1751, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].

Abstract

Astrocytes are a large and diverse population of morphologically complex cells that exist throughout nervous systems of multiple species. Progress over the last two decades has shown that astrocytes mediate developmental, physiological, and pathological processes. However, a long-standing open question is how astrocytes regulate neural circuits in ways that are behaviorally consequential. In this regard, we summarize recent studies using Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster, Danio rerio, and Mus musculus. The data reveal diverse astrocyte mechanisms operating in seconds or much longer timescales within neural circuits and shaping multiple behavioral outputs. We also refer to human diseases that have a known primary astrocytic basis. We suggest that including astrocytes in mechanistic, theoretical, and computational studies of neural circuits provides new perspectives to understand behavior, its regulation, and its disease-related manifestations.

Keywords: Caenorhabditis elegans; Danio rerio; Drosophila melanogaster; Mus musculus; astrocyte; behavior; genetic disorders; glia; microcircuit; neuronal circuit.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Astrocytes / metabolism*
Astrocytes / pathology
Caenorhabditis elegans
Drosophila
Humans
Mental Disorders / genetics
Mental Disorders / metabolism*
Mental Disorders / pathology
Mice
Nerve Net / metabolism*
Nerve Net / pathology
Neurons / metabolism*
Neurons / pathology
Species Specificity
Zebrafish

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding