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Ollivier M, Soto JS, Linker KE, Moye SL, Jami-Alahmadi Y, Jones AE, Divakaruni AS, Kawaguchi R, Wohlschlegel JA, Khakh BS. Crym-positive striatal astrocytes gate perseverative behaviour. Nature 2024; 627:358-366. [PMID: 38418885 PMCID: PMC10937394 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07138-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
Astrocytes are heterogeneous glial cells of the central nervous system1-3. However, the physiological relevance of astrocyte diversity for neural circuits and behaviour remains unclear. Here we show that a specific population of astrocytes in the central striatum expresses μ-crystallin (encoded by Crym in mice and CRYM in humans) that is associated with several human diseases, including neuropsychiatric disorders4-7. In adult mice, reducing the levels of μ-crystallin in striatal astrocytes through CRISPR-Cas9-mediated knockout of Crym resulted in perseverative behaviours, increased fast synaptic excitation in medium spiny neurons and dysfunctional excitatory-inhibitory synaptic balance. Increased perseveration stemmed from the loss of astrocyte-gated control of neurotransmitter release from presynaptic terminals of orbitofrontal cortex-striatum projections. We found that perseveration could be remedied using presynaptic inhibitory chemogenetics8, and that this treatment also corrected the synaptic deficits. Together, our findings reveal converging molecular, synaptic, circuit and behavioural mechanisms by which a molecularly defined and allocated population of striatal astrocytes gates perseveration phenotypes that accompany neuropsychiatric disorders9-12. Our data show that Crym-positive striatal astrocytes have key biological functions within the central nervous system, and uncover astrocyte-neuron interaction mechanisms that could be targeted in treatments for perseveration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthias Ollivier
- Department of Physiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Joselyn S Soto
- Department of Physiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Kay E Linker
- Department of Physiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Stefanie L Moye
- Department of Physiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Yasaman Jami-Alahmadi
- Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Anthony E Jones
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ajit S Divakaruni
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Riki Kawaguchi
- Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - James A Wohlschlegel
- Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Baljit S Khakh
- Department of Physiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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