Comparative assessment of the effects of DREADDs and endogenously expressed GPCRs in hippocampal astrocytes on synaptic activity and memory

Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience

Neuroscience

Aline Mak¹  Mark H. G. Verheijen¹  Sophie H. Lee² 

[1] Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands;Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands;Research Master’s Programme Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands;

关键词: glia;    tripartite synapse;    signal transduction;    signaling pathways;    behavior;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fncel.2023.1159756

 received in 2023-02-06, accepted in 2023-03-13,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADDs) have proven themselves as one of the key in vivo techniques of modern neuroscience, allowing for unprecedented access to cellular manipulations in living animals. With respect to astrocyte research, DREADDs have become a popular method to examine the functional aspects of astrocyte activity, particularly G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR)-mediated intracellular calcium (Ca2+) and cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) dynamics. With this method it has become possible to directly link the physiological aspects of astrocytic function to cognitive processes such as memory. As a result, a multitude of studies have explored the impact of DREADD activation in astrocytes on synaptic activity and memory. However, the emergence of varying results prompts us to reconsider the degree to which DREADDs expressed in astrocytes accurately mimic endogenous GPCR activity. Here we compare the major downstream signaling mechanisms, synaptic, and behavioral effects of stimulating Gq-, Gs-, and Gi-DREADDs in hippocampal astrocytes of adult mice to those of endogenously expressed GPCRs.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Lee, Mak and Verheijen.