Dissecting the function of astrocytic synaptic cell adhesion molecules
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Information is transmitted through synapses in the nervous system. Efforts have been made to visualize synaptic connectivity and understand synapse formation. While essential synaptic molecules have mainly been studied in neurons, astrocytes also play a role in synapse interactions. Astrocytes express synaptic cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) like neuroligins (Nlgns), which could regulate astrocyte-neuron interactions. A recent study suggested that loss of astrocytic Nlgn2 affects astrocyte size and excitatory synaptogenesis, which conflicts with previous studies reporting that constitutive deletion of Nlgns does not affect synapse number. To investigate the role of astrocytic Nlgns, we genetically deleted Nlgns 1-3 in astrocytes and observed no impairment in synaptic protein expression or synapse number. Electrophysiological measurements and 3D astrocyte reconstruction showed no impact on synaptic function or astrocyte volume, respectively. Therefore, astrocytic Nlgns are not crucial for synaptogenesis or astrocyte morphogenesis. Further, monosynaptic rabies virus (RV) tracing methods have been developed to identify the molecules involved in synapse development. However, synapse number as measured by RV tracing does not always align with that as reported by traditional immunohistochemistry techniques. This discrepancy may be due to synaptic activity influencing RV tracing. Thus, we investigated whether RV tracing methods simply require structural synapses or if synaptic transmission is also necessary for neuronal labeling with RV. By eliminating evoked transmission, we found that spontaneous release is sufficient for RV spread. Loss of both evoked and spontaneous synaptic transmission halted retrograde labeling entirely. Our studies improve the understanding of astrocyte-mediated synapse maintenance and the techniques used to study them, supporting further research on the molecular and cellular aspects of synapses.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2023; ©2023 |
| Publication date | 2023; 2023 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Golf, Samantha Rose |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Südhof, Thomas C |
| Thesis advisor | Südhof, Thomas C |
| Thesis advisor | Chen, Lu, (Professor of neurosurgery) |
| Thesis advisor | Kaltschmidt, Julia |
| Thesis advisor | Luo, Liqun, 1966- |
| Degree committee member | Chen, Lu, (Professor of neurosurgery) |
| Degree committee member | Kaltschmidt, Julia |
| Degree committee member | Luo, Liqun, 1966- |
| Associated with | Stanford University, School of Medicine |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Neurosciences Program |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Samantha Rose Golf. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Neurosciences Program. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2023. |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/zf430qh1976 |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2023 by Samantha Rose Golf
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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