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The transcriptome and metabolic gene signature of protoplasmic astrocytes in the adult murine cortex.
- Source :
-
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience [J Neurosci] 2007 Nov 07; Vol. 27 (45), pp. 12255-66. - Publication Year :
- 2007
-
Abstract
- Protoplasmic astrocytes are critically important to energy metabolism in the CNS. Our current understanding of the metabolic interactions between neurons and glia is based on studies using cultured cells, from which mainly inferential conclusions have been drawn as to the relative roles of neurons and glia in brain metabolism. In this study, we used functional genomics to establish the relative compartmentalization of neuronal and astrocytic metabolic pathways in the adult brain. To this end, fluorescence-activated cell sorting was used to directly isolate neurons and protoplasmic astrocytes from the cortex of adult mice. Microarray analysis showed that astrocytes and neurons each express transcripts predicting individual self-sufficiency in both glycolysis and oxidative metabolism. Surprisingly, most enzymes in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle were expressed at higher relative levels in astrocytes than in neurons. Mass spectrometric analysis of the TCA cycle intermediates confirmed that freshly isolated adult astrocytes maintained an active TCA cycle, whereas immuno-electron microscopy revealed that fine astrocytic processes encompassing synapses contained a higher density of mitochondria than surrounding cells. These observations indicate that astrocytes exhibit robust oxidative metabolism in the intact adult brain and suggest a prominent contribution of astrocytic metabolism to functional brain imaging, including BOLD (blood-oxygen level-dependent) functional magnetic resonance imaging signals.
- Subjects :
- Animals
Astrocytes metabolism
Astrocytes ultrastructure
Cerebral Cortex metabolism
Cerebral Cortex ultrastructure
Cytoplasm genetics
Cytoplasm ultrastructure
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Mice, Transgenic
Astrocytes physiology
Cerebral Cortex physiology
Cytoplasm metabolism
Gene Expression Profiling methods
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1529-2401
- Volume :
- 27
- Issue :
- 45
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 17989291
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3404-07.2007