西班牙马德里卡哈尔研究所（CSIC）Gertrudis Perea团队取得一项新突破。他们揭示前额叶皮质中星形胶质细胞的GABA能信号维持目标定向行为。相关论文于2020年12月7日发表于《自然-神经科学》。
他们发现内侧前额叶皮层星形胶质细胞中GABAB受体的遗传消融改变了皮层神经元的低伽马振荡和放电特性，从而影响了目标定向行为。通过用黑视蛋白刺激星形胶质细胞的光遗传学可显著恢复工作记忆缺陷。此外，野生型小鼠中的黑视蛋白激活的星形胶质细胞提高了皮质神经元的放电速度和伽马振荡，并提高了认知能力。
因此，他们的工作确定星形胶质细胞作为控制皮质回路抑制的枢纽，为皮质信息处理的行为相关中程时标调节和一致的目标导向行为提供了新途径。
据悉，GABA中间神经元在较高等的脑功能中起关键作用。星形胶质细胞与整个大脑的突触相互作用，并被认为是兴奋性突触传递的调节元件。但是，很大程度上未知的是，GABA能的中间神经元和星形胶质细胞如何相互作用并有助于稳定复杂行为的表现。
附：英文原文
Title: GABAergic signaling to astrocytes in the prefrontal cortex sustains goal-directed behaviors
Author: Sara Mederos, Cristina Snchez-Puelles, Julio Esparza, Manuel Valero, Alexey Ponomarenko, Gertrudis Perea
Issue&Volume: 2020-12-07
Abstract: GABA interneurons play a critical role in higher brain functions. Astrocytic glial cells interact with synapses throughout the whole brain and are recognized as regulatory elements of excitatory synaptic transmission. However, it is largely unknown how GABAergic interneurons and astrocytes interact and contribute to stable performance of complex behaviors. Here, we found that genetic ablation of GABAB receptors in medial prefrontal cortex astrocytes altered low-gamma oscillations and firing properties of cortical neurons, which affected goal-directed behaviors. Remarkably, working memory deficits were restored by optogenetic stimulation of astrocytes with melanopsin. Furthermore, melanopsin-activated astrocytes in wild-type mice enhanced the firing rate of cortical neurons and gamma oscillations, as well as improved cognition. Therefore, our work identifies astrocytes as a hub for controlling inhibition in cortical circuits, providing a novel pathway for the behaviorally relevant midrange time-scale regulation of cortical information processing and consistent goal-directed behaviors. Mederos et al. show that GABAB receptor signaling in astrocytes regulates prefrontal cortex activity to impact goal-directed behaviors. Thus, the coordinated activity of GABAergic neurons and astrocytes helps decision-making.
DOI: 10.1038/s41593-020-00752-x
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-020-00752-x
Nature Neuroscience：《自然—神经科学》，创刊于1998年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：28.771
官方网址：https://www.nature.com/neuro/
投稿链接：https://mts-nn.nature.com/cgi-bin/main.plex
本期文章：《自然—神经科学》：Online/在线发表
