Highlights d Induction of synaptic LTP prompts withdrawal of perisynaptic astroglia d The underlying mechanisms involve NKCC1 transporter and cofilin d Reduced synaptic astroglial coverage boosts extrasynaptic glutamate escape d LTP induction thus enhances NMDAR-dependent intersynaptic cross-talk

SummaryMaintaining low intracellular calcium is essential to the functioning of brain cells, yet the phenomenology and mechanisms involved remain an enigma. We have advanced a two-photon excitation time-resolved imaging technique, which exploits high sensitivity of the OGB-1 fluorescence lifetime to nanomolar Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]) and enables a high data acquisition rate in situ. The [Ca2+] readout is not affected by dye concentration, light scattering, photobleaching, micro-viscosity, temperature, or the main known concomitants of cellular activity. In quiescent tissue, standard whole-cell configuration has little effect on resting [Ca2+] inside neuronal dendrites or inside astroglia dye-filled via gap junctions. Mapping basal [Ca2+] in neurons and astrocytes with submicron resolution unveils heterogeneous concentration landscapes that depend on age and preceding activity. The rich information content represented by such landscapes in acute slices and in vivo promises to unveil the hitherto unexplored, potentially fundamental aspects of brain cell physiology.Video Abstract

The adhesion molecule N-cadherin plays important roles in the development of the nervous system, in particular by stimulating axon outgrowth, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this effect are mostly unknown. One possibility, the so-called "molecular clutch" model, could involve a direct mechanical linkage between N-cadherin adhesion at the membrane and intracellular actin-based motility within neuronal growth cones. Using live imaging of primary rat hippocampal neurons plated on N-cadherin-coated substrates and optical trapping of N-cadherin-coated microspheres, we demonstrate here a strong correlation between growth cone velocity and the mechanical coupling between ligand-bound N-cadherin receptors and the retrograde actin flow. This relationship holds by varying ligand density and expressing mutated N-cadherin receptors or small interfering RNAs to perturb binding to catenins. By restraining microsphere motion using optical tweezers or a microneedle, we further show slippage of cadherin-cytoskeleton bonds at low forces, and, at higher forces, local actin accumulation, which strengthens nascent N-cadherin contacts. Together, these data support a direct transmission of actin-based traction forces to N-cadherin adhesions, through catenin partners, driving growth cone advance and neurite extension.

The interactions of the AMPA receptor (AMPAR) auxiliary subunit Stargazin with PDZ domain-containing scaffold proteins such as PSD-95 are critical for the synaptic stabilization of AMPARs. To investigate these interactions, we have developed biomimetic competing ligands that are assembled from two Stargazin-derived PSD-95/DLG/ZO-1 (PDZ) domain-binding motifs using 'click' chemistry. Characterization of the ligands in vitro and in a cellular FRET-based model revealed an enhanced affinity for the multiple PDZ domains of PSD-95 compared to monovalent peptides. In cultured neurons, the divalent ligands competed with transmembrane AMPAR regulatory protein (TARP) for the intracellular membrane-associated guanylate kinase resulting in increased lateral diffusion and endocytosis of surface AMPARs, while showing strong inhibition of synaptic AMPAR currents. This provides evidence for a model in which the TARP-containing AMPARs are stabilized at the synapse by engaging in multivalent interactions. In light of the prevalence of PDZ domain clusters, these new biomimetic chemical tools could find broad application for acutely perturbing multivalent complexes.

NMDA-type glutamate receptors (NMDAR) are central actors in the plasticity of excitatory synapses. During adaptive processes, the number and composition of synaptic NMDAR can be rapidly modified, as in neonatal hippocampal synapses where a switch from predominant GluN2B- to GluN2A-containing receptors is observed after the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP). However, the cellular pathways by which surface NMDAR subtypes are dynamically regulated during activity-dependent synaptic adaptations remain poorly understood. Using a combination of high-resolution single nanoparticle imaging and electrophysiology, we show here that GluN2B-NMDAR are dynamically redistributed away from glutamate synapses through increased lateral diffusion during LTP in immature neurons. Strikingly, preventing this activity-dependent GluN2B-NMDAR surface redistribution through cross-linking, either with commercial or with autoimmune anti-NMDA antibodies from patient with neuropsychiatric symptoms, affects the dynamics and spine accumulation of CaMKII and impairs LTP. Interestingly, the same impairments are observed when expressing a mutant of GluN2B-NMDAR unable to bind CaMKII. We thus uncover a non-canonical mechanism by which GluN2B-NMDAR surface dynamics plays a critical role in the plasticity of maturing synapses through a direct interplay with CaMKII.

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Whilst astrocytes in culture invariably respond to dopamine with cytosolic Ca2+ rises, the dopamine sensitivity of astroglia in situ and its physiological roles remain unknown. To minimize effects of experimental manipulations on astroglial physiology, here we monitored Ca2+ in cells connected via gap junctions to astrocytes loaded whole‐cell with cytosolic indicators in area CA1 of acute hippocampal slices. Aiming at high sensitivity of [Ca2+] measurements, we also employed life‐time imaging of the Ca2+ indicator Oregon Green BAPTA‐1. We found that dopamine triggered a dose‐dependent, bidirectional Ca2+ response in stratum radiatum astroglia, a jagged elevation accompanied and followed by below‐baseline decreases. The elevation depended on D1/D2 receptors and engaged intracellular Ca2+ storage and removal whereas the dopamine‐induced [Ca2+] decrease involved D2 receptors only and was sensitive to Ca2+ channel blockade. In contrast, the stratum lacunosum moleculare astroglia generated higher‐threshold dopamine‐induced Ca2+ responses which did not depend on dopamine receptors and were uncoupled from the prominent inhibitory action of dopamine on local perforant path synapses. Our findings thus suggest that a single neurotransmitter—dopamine—could either elevate or decrease astrocyte [Ca2+] depending on the receptors involved, that such actions are specific to the regional neural circuitry and that they may be causally uncoupled from dopamine actions on local synapses. The results also indicate that [Ca2+] elevations commonly detected in astroglia can represent the variety of distinct mechanisms acting on the microscopic scale. GLIA 2017;65:447–459

Highlights d NMDARs are organized in nanodomains within hippocampal synapses d GluN2A-and GluN2B-NMDARs are differentially organized at the nanoscale level d GluN2A-and GluN2B-NMDARs nanodomains are regulated through different pathways d GluN2A-and GluN2B-NMDARs relative ratio bi-directionally regulates LTP