Background: Pathways involved in neuron-dependent GLT1 regulation in astrocytes remain to be characterized. Results: Neuronal microRNA 124a can be transferred into astrocytes through neuronal exosomes and significantly increases GLT1 protein expression in an indirect manner. Conclusion: Neuronal exosomal miRNA 124a is able to regulate astroglial GLT1 expression. Significance: We characterize a novel pathway in neuron-to-astrocyte communication and identify a microRNA that modulates GLT1 protein expression.

The molecular signature and functional properties of astroglial subtypes in the adult CNS remain largely undefined. By using translational ribosome affinity purification followed by RNA-Seq, we profiled astroglial ribosome-associated (presumably translating) mRNAs in major cortical and subcortical brain regions (cortex, hippocampus, caudate-putamen, nucleus accumbens, thalamus, and hypothalamus) of BAC aldh1l1-translational ribosome affinity purification (TRAP) mice (both sexes). We found that the expression of astroglial translating mRNAs closely follows the dorsoventral axis, especially from cortex/hippocampus to thalamus/hypothalamus posteriorly. This region-specific expression pattern of genes, such as synaptogenic modulator sparc and transcriptional factors (emx2, lhx2, and hopx), was validated by qRT-PCR and immunostaining in brain sections. Interestingly, cortical or subcortical astrocytes selectively promote neurite growth and synaptic activity of neurons only from the same region in mismatched cocultures, exhibiting regionmatched astrocyte to neuron communication. Overall, these results generated new molecular signature of astrocyte types in the adult CNS, providing insights into their origin and functional diversity.

Functional maturation of astroglia is characterized by the development of a unique, ramified morphology and the induction of important functional proteins, such as glutamate transporter GLT1. Although pathways regulating the early fate specification of astroglia have been characterized, mechanisms regulating postnatal maturation of astroglia remain essentially unknown. Here we used a new in vivo approach to illustrate and quantitatively analyze developmental arborization of astroglial processes. Our analysis found a particularly high increase in the number of VGluT1 ϩ neuronal glutamatergic synapses that are ensheathed by processes from individual developing astroglia from postnatal day (P) 14 to P26, when astroglia undergo dramatic postnatal maturation. Subsequent silencing of VGluT1 ϩ synaptic activity in VGluT1 KO mice significantly reduces astroglial domain growth and the induction of GLT1 in the cortex, but has no effect on astroglia in the hypothalamus, where non-VGluT1 ϩ synaptic signaling predominates. In particular, electron microscopy analysis showed that the loss of VGluT1 ϩ synaptic signaling significantly decreases perisynaptic enshealthing of astroglial processes on synapses. To further determine whether synaptically released glutamate mediates VGluT1 ϩ synaptic signaling, we pharmacologically inhibited and genetically ablated metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs, especially mGluR5) in developing cortical astroglia and found that developmental arborization of astroglial processes and expression of functional proteins, such as GLT1, is significantly decreased. In summary, our genetic analysis provides new in vivo evidence that VGluT1 ϩ glutamatergic signaling, mediated by the astroglial mGluR5 receptor, regulates the functional maturation of cortical astroglia during development. These results elucidate a new mechanism for regulating the developmental formation of functional neuron-glia synaptic units.

Tonically active cholinergic interneurons (TANs) from the nucleus accumbens (NAc) are centrally involved in reward behavior. TANs express a vesicular glutamate transporter referred to as VGLUT3 and thus use both acetylcholine and glutamate as neurotransmitters. The respective roles of each transmitter in the regulation of reward and addiction are still unknown. In this study, we showed that disruption of the gene that encodes VGLUT3 (Slc17a8) markedly increased cocaine self-administration in mice. Concomitantly, the amount of dopamine (DA) release was strongly augmented in the NAc of VGLUT3(-/-) mice because of a lack of signaling by metabotropic glutamate receptors. Furthermore, dendritic spines and glutamatergic synaptic transmission on medium spiny neurons were increased in the NAc of VGLUT3(-/-) mice. Increased DA and glutamate signaling in the NAc are hallmarks of addiction. Our study shows that TANs use glutamate to reduce DA release and decrease reinforcing properties of cocaine in mice. Interestingly, we also observed an increased frequency of rare variations in SLC17A8 in a cohort of severe drug abusers compared with controls. Our findings identify VGLUT3 as an unexpected regulator of drug abuse.

Omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) are essential for the functional maturation of the brain. Westernization of dietary habits in both developed and developing countries is accompanied by a progressive reduction in dietary intake of n-3 PUFAs. Low maternal intake of n-3 PUFAs has been linked to neurodevelopmental diseases in Humans. However, the n-3 PUFAs deficiency-mediated mechanisms affecting the development of the central nervous system are poorly understood. Active microglial engulfment of synapses regulates brain development. Impaired synaptic pruning is associated with several neurodevelopmental disorders. Here, we identify a molecular mechanism for detrimental effects of low maternal n-3 PUFA intake on hippocampal development in mice. Our results show that maternal dietary n-3 PUFA deficiency increases microglia-mediated phagocytosis of synaptic elements in the rodent developing hippocampus, partly through the activation of 12/15-lipoxygenase (LOX)/12-HETE signaling, altering neuronal morphology and affecting cognitive performance of the offspring. These findings provide a mechanistic insight into neurodevelopmental defects caused by maternal n-3 PUFAs dietary deficiency.

How the loss of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) in different brain cell types, especially in non-neuron glial cells, induces fragile X syndrome (FXS) phenotypes has just begun to be understood. In the current study, we generated inducible astrocyte-specific Fmr1 conditional knock-out mice (i-astro-Fmr1-cKO) and restoration mice (i-astro-Fmr1-cON) to study the in vivo modulation of FXS synaptic phenotypes by astroglial FMRP. We found that functional expression of glutamate transporter GLT1 is 40% decreased in i-astro-Fmr1-cKO somatosensory cortical astrocytes in vivo, which can be fully rescued by the selective re-expression of FMRP in astrocytes in i-astro-Fmr1-cON mice. Although the selective loss of astroglial FMRP only modestly increases spine density and length in cortical pyramidal neurons, selective re-expression of FMRP in astrocytes significantly attenuates abnormal spine morphology in these neurons of i-astro-Fmr1-cON mice. Moreover, we found that basal protein synthesis levels and immunoreactivity of phosphorylated S6 ribosomal protein (p-s6P) is significantly increased in i-astro-Fmr1-cKO mice, while the enhanced cortical protein synthesis observed in Fmr1 KO mice is mitigated in i-astro-Fmr1-cON mice. Furthermore, ceftriaxone-mediated upregulation of surface GLT1 expression restores functional glutamate uptake and attenuates enhanced neuronal excitability in Fmr1 KO mice. In particular, ceftriaxone significantly decreases the growth rate of abnormally accelerated body weight and completely corrects spine abnormality in Fmr1 KO mice. Together, these results show that the selective loss of astroglial FMRP contributes to cortical synaptic deficits in FXS, presumably through dysregulated astroglial glutamate transporter GLT1 and impaired glutamate uptake. These results suggest the involvement of astrocytemediated mechanisms in the pathogenesis of FXS.

In mammalians, toll-like receptors (TLR) signal-transduction pathways induce the expression of a variety of immune-response genes, including inflammatory cytokines. It is therefore plausible to assume that TLRs are mediators in glial cells triggering the release of cytokines that ultimately kill DA neurons in the substantia nigra in Parkinson disease (PD). Accordingly, recent data indicate that TLR4 is up-regulated by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) treatment in a mouse model of PD. Here, we wished to evaluate the role of TLR4 in the acute mouse MPTP model of PD: TLR4-deficient mice and wild-type littermates control mice were used for the acute administration way of MPTP or a corresponding volume of saline. We demonstrate that TLR4-deficient mice are less vulnerable to MPTP intoxication than wild-type mice and display a decreased number of Iba1+ and MHC II+ activated microglial cells after MPTP application, suggesting that the TLR4 pathway is involved in experimental PD.

Motor neurons are progressively and predominantly degenerated in ALS, which is not only induced by multiple intrinsic pathways but also significantly influenced by the neighboring glial cells. In particular, astrocytes derived from the SOD1 mutant mouse model of ALS or from human familial or sporadic ALS patient brain tissue directly induce motor neuron death in culture; however, the mechanisms of pathological astroglial secretion remain unclear. Here we investigated abnormal calcium homeostasis and altered exocytosis in SOD1G93A astrocytes. We found that purinergic stimulation induces excess calcium release from the ER stores in SOD1G93A astrocytes, which results from the abnormal ER calcium accumulation and is independent of clearance mechanisms. Furthermore, pharmacological studies suggested that store-operated calcium entry (SOCE), a calcium refilling mechanism responsive to ER calcium depletion, is enhanced in SOD1G93A astrocytes. We found that oxidant-induced increased S-glutathionylation and calcium-independent puncta formation of the ER calcium sensor STIM1 underlies the abnormal SOCE response in SOD1G93A astrocytes. Enhanced SOCE contributes to ER calcium overload in SOD1G93A astrocytes and excess calcium release from the ER during ATP stimulation. In addition, ER calcium release induces elevated ATP release from SOD1G93A astrocytes, which can be inhibited by the overexpression of dominant-negative SNARE. Selective inhibition of exocytosis in SOD1G93A astrocytes significantly prevents astrocyte-mediated toxicity to motor neurons and delays disease onset in SOD1G93A mice. Our results characterize a novel mechanism responsible for calcium dysregulation in SOD1G93A astrocytes and provide the first in vivo evidence that astrocyte exocytosis contributes to the pathogenesis of ALS.