RT Journal Article
T1 Astrocytes actively support long-range molecular clock synchronization of segregated neuronal populations
A1 Giantomasi, Lidia
A1 Ribeiro, Joao F.
A1 Barca Mayo, Olga
A1 Malerba, Mario
A1 Miele, Ermanno
A1 De Pietri Tonelli, Davide
A1 Berdondini, Luca
K1 Circadian Clock
K1 Astrocytes
K1 Neurons
K1 Microfluidics
AB In mammals, the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus is the master circadian pacemaker that synchronizes the clocks in the central nervous system and periphery, thus orchestrating rhythms throughout the body. However, little is known about how so many cellular clocks within and across brain circuits can be effectively synchronized. In this work, we investigated the implication of two possible pathways: (i) astrocytes-mediated synchronization and (ii) neuronal paracrine factors-mediated synchronization. By taking advantage of a lab-on-a-chip microfluidic device developed in our laboratory, here we report that both pathways are involved. We found the paracrine factors-mediated synchronization of molecular clocks is diffusion-limited and, in our device, effective only in case of a short distance between neuronal populations. Interestingly, interconnecting astrocytes define an active signaling channel that can synchronize molecular clocks of neuronal populations also at longer distances. At mechanism level, we found that astrocytes-mediated synchronization involves both GABA and glutamate, while neuronal paracrine factors-mediated synchronization occurs through GABA signaling. These findings identify a previously unknown role of astrocytes as active cells that might distribute long-range signals to synchronize the brain clocks, thus further strengthening the importance of reciprocal interactions between glial and neuronal cells in the context of circadian circuitry.
PB Nature
SN 2045-2322
YR 2023
FD 2023-03-24
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/38694
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/38694
LA eng
NO Giantomasi, L., Ribeiro, J., Barca-Mayo, O., Malerba, M., Miele, E., De Pietri Tonelli, D., Berdondini, L. (2023). Astrocytes actively support long-range molecular clock synchronization of segregated neuronal populations. "Scientific Reports", vol. 13, 4815.
NO European Research Executive Agency (REA) through the FP7-PEOPLE-2014-IEF ‘ASTROCLOCK’ (629867); Fondazione CARIPLO research grant (2015-0590) and “Ramon y Cajal” contract (RYC2018-026293-I).
DS Minerva
RD 26 abr 2026