Dynamic actin waves in primary rat cortical astrocytes sense environmental cues

ORAL

Abstract

Recent work has highlighted the importance of the brain's non-neuronal cells in cognitive function. Astrocytes, one type of these non-neuronal glial cells, have physiological roles ranging from maintaining brain homeostasis to modulating neuronal communication. Astrocytes perform these functions by regulating the flux of ions and water molecules across their membranes and by communicating with other astrocytes within the brain’s networks. These functions require dynamic reorganization of the cytoskeleton in response to changes in the brain’s microenvironments, but these dynamics have not been well studied in astrocytes, especially on shorter time scales of seconds to minutes. To this end, we use live confocal microscopy to capture actin dynamics in live astrocytes under control and “triggering” conditions after astrocytes have been transduced with actin-GFP. We then employ optical flow to analyze these actin dynamics by tracking changes in fluorescence. We also study the persistence of these dynamics and identify small regions of especially high activity, which we call functional microdomains. We propose that actin dynamics are a local manifestation of astrocytes’ global homeostatic response to changes in the extracellular microenvironment.

*Funded by AFOSR FA9550-19-1-0370.

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Presenters

  • Kate O'Neill

    • Inst. for Phys. Sci. & Tech., Univ. of Maryland, Col. Park, College Park, MD, USA
    • University of Maryland, College Park

Authors

  • Kate O'Neill

    • Inst. for Phys. Sci. & Tech., Univ. of Maryland, Col. Park, College Park, MD, USA
    • University of Maryland, College Park

  • Emanuela Saracino

    • Inst. per la sintesi organica e la fotoreattività ISOF, Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche Area Della Rice, Bologna, Italy
    • Inst. per la sintesi organica e la fotoreattività, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche

  • Barbara Barile

    • Dept. di Bioscienze, Biotecnologie e Biofarmaceutica,, Univ. of Bari, Bari, Italy
    • Dept. di Bioscienze, Biotecnologie e Biofarmaceutica, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro

  • Nicholas Mennona

    • Dept. Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD, USA
    • University of Maryland, College Park

  • Spandan Pathak

    • Inst. for Phys. Sci. & Tech., Univ. of Maryland, Col. Park, College Park, MD, USA
    • University of Maryland, College Park

  • Maria Grazia Mola

    • Dept. di Bioscienze, Biotecnologie e Biofarmaceutica,, Univ. of Bari, Bari, Italy
    • Dept. di Bioscienze, Biotecnologie e Biofarmaceutica, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro

  • Grazia Paola Nicchia

    • Dept. di Bioscienze, Biotecnologie e Biofarmaceutica,, Univ. of Bari, Bari, Italy
    • Dept. di Bioscienze, Biotecnologie e Biofarmaceutica, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro

  • Valentina Benfenati

    • Inst. per la sintesi organica e la fotoreattività ISOF, Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche Area Della Rice, Bologna, Italy
    • Inst. per la sintesi organica e la fotoreattività, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche

  • Wolfgang Losert

    • University of Maryland, College Park
    • Dept. Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD, USA