Rapid manifestation of reactive astrogliosis in acute hippocampal brain slices

• Published in: Glia 2014-01, Vol.62 (1), p.78-95
• Main Authors: Takano, Takahiro, He, Wei, Han, Xiaoning, Wang, Fushun, Xu, Qiwu, Wang, Xiaohai, Oberheim Bush, Nancy Ann, Cruz, Nancy, Dienel, Gerald A., Nedergaard, Maiken
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Animals, Newborn; Aquaporin 4 - metabolism; Astrocytes - drug effects; Astrocytes - metabolism; Astrocytes - ultrastructure; astrohcytes; Calcium - metabolism; electron microscopy; Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials - drug effects; Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials - physiology; Female; Gene Expression Regulation - drug effects; Gene Expression Regulation - physiology; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein - metabolism; Gliosis - etiology; Gliosis - pathology; Glycogen - metabolism; Green Fluorescent Proteins - genetics; Green Fluorescent Proteins - metabolism; Hippocampus - cytology; Hippocampus - injuries; In Vitro Techniques; interstitial space; Lactic Acid - metabolism; Male; Mice; mitochondria; NAD - metabolism; NADH; purinergic receptors; Quaternary Ammonium Compounds - pharmacology; two-photon microscopy
• ISSN: 0894-1491; 1098-1136
• DOI: 10.1002/glia.22588

A flurry of studies over the past decade has shown that astrocytes play a more active role in neural function than previously recognized. Hippocampal slices prepared from young rodent pups have served as a popular model for studying the pathways by which astrocytes participate in synaptic transmission. It is, however, not known how well astrocytes tolerate traumatic injury and hypoxia, which are unavoidable when preparing acute slices. We here showed that astrocytes exhibit striking changes in expression of several receptors and structural proteins, including re‐expression of the developmental marker nestin within 90 min following preparation of live vibratome slices. Moreover, immunoelectron microscopy showed a 2.7‐fold loss of astrocytic processes in acute hippocampal slices prepared from glial fibrillary acidic protein‐green fluorescent protein reporter mice. A sharp decrease in the number of mitochondria was also noted in acute slices, concurrently with an increase in mitochondrial size. Glycogen content decreased 3‐fold upon slice preparation and did not recover despite stable recordings of field excitatory postsynaptic current. Analysis of Ca2+ signaling showed that astrocytic responses to purine receptor and mGluR5 agonists differed in slice versus in vivo. These observations suggest that the functional properties and the fine structure of astrocytes in slices may be reflective of early stages of reactive gliosis and should be confirmed in vivo when possible. GLIA 2013;62:78–95