Neuronal lipid droplets play a conserved and sex-biased role in maintaining whole-body energy homeostasis.

Lipids are essential for neuron development and physiology. Yet, the central hubs that coordinate lipid supply and demand in neurons remain unclear. Here, we combine invertebrate and vertebrate models to establish the presence and functional significance of neuronal lipid droplets (LD) in vivo. We find that LD are normally present in neurons in a non-uniform distribution across the brain, and demonstrate triglyceride metabolism enzymes and lipid droplet-associated proteins control neuronal LD formation through both canonical and recently-discovered pathways. Appropriate LD regulation in neurons has conserved and male-biased effects on whole-body energy homeostasis across flies and mice, specifically neurons that couple environmental cues with energy homeostasis. Mechanistically, LD-derived lipids support neuron function by providing phospholipids to sustain mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum homeostasis. Together, our work identifies a conserved role for LD as the organelle that coordinates lipid management in neurons, with implications for our understanding of mechanisms that preserve neuronal lipid homeostasis and function in health and disease.

The Potential of Social Policies in Preventing Dementia: An Ecological Study Using Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Social policies determine the distribution of factors (e.g. education, cardiovascular health) protecting against the development of dementia in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the association between social policies and the likelihood of AD without dementia (ADw/oD) has yet to be evaluated. We estimated this association in an ecological study using systematic review and meta-analysis. Four reference databases were consulted; 18 studies were included in the final analysis. ADw/oD was defined as death without dementia in people with clinically significant AD brain pathology. The indicators of social policy were extracted from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development database (OECD). The probability of ADw/oD with moderate AD brain pathology was inversely associated with the Gini index for disposable income, poverty rate, and certain public expenditures on healthcare. ADw/oD with advanced AD brain pathology was only associated with public expenditures for long-term care. Social policies may play a role in maintaining and sustaining cognitive health among older people with AD.

mTORC1-mediated acquisition of reward-related representations by hippocampal somatostatin interneurons.

Plasticity of principal cells and inhibitory interneurons underlies hippocampal memory. Bidirectional modulation of somatostatin cell mTORC1 activity, a crucial translational control mechanism in synaptic plasticity, causes parallel changes in hippocampal CA1 somatostatin interneuron (SOM-IN) long-term potentiation and hippocampus-dependent memory, indicating a key role in learning. However, SOM-IN activity changes and behavioral correlates during learning, and the role of mTORC1 in these processes, remain ill-defined. To address these questions, we used two-photon Ca2+ imaging from SOM-INs during a virtual reality goal-directed spatial memory task in head-fixed control mice (SOM-IRES-Cre mice) or in mice with conditional knockout of Rptor (SOM-Rptor-KO mice) to block mTORC1 activity in SOM-INs. We found that control mice learn the task, but SOM-Raptor-KO mice exhibit a deficit. Also, SOM-IN Ca2+ activity became increasingly related to reward during learning in control mice but not in SOM-Rptor-KO mice. Four types of SOM-IN activity patterns related to reward location were observed, "reward off sustained", "reward off transient", "reward on sustained" and "reward on transient", and these responses showed reorganization after reward relocation in control but not SOM-Rptor-KO mice. Thus, SOM-INs develop mTORC1-dependent reward- related activity during learning. This coding may bi-directionally interact with pyramidal cells and other structures to represent and consolidate reward location.

Hippocampal Somatostatin Interneurons, Long-Term Synaptic Plasticity and Memory.

A distinctive feature of the hippocampal structure is the diversity of inhibitory interneurons. These complex inhibitory interconnections largely contribute to the tight modulation of hippocampal circuitry, as well as to the formation and coordination of neuronal assemblies underlying learning and memory. Inhibitory interneurons provide more than a simple transitory inhibition of hippocampal principal cells (PCs). The synaptic plasticity of inhibitory neurons provides long-lasting changes in the hippocampal network and is a key component of memory formation. The dendrite targeting interneurons expressing the peptide somatostatin (SOM) are particularly interesting in this regard because they display unique long-lasting synaptic changes leading to metaplastic regulation of hippocampal networks. In this article, we examine the actions of the neuropeptide SOM on hippocampal cells, synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory. We address the different subtypes of hippocampal SOM interneurons. We describe the long-term synaptic plasticity that takes place at the excitatory synapses of SOM interneurons, its singular induction and expression mechanisms, as well as the consequences of these changes on the hippocampal network, learning, and memory. We also review evidence that astrocytes provide cell-specific dynamic regulation of inhibition of PC dendrites by SOM interneurons. Finally, we cover how, in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease (AD), dysfunction of plasticity of SOM interneuron excitatory synapses may also contribute to cognitive impairments in brain disorders.

Astrocytes detect and upregulate transmission at inhibitory synapses of somatostatin interneurons onto pyramidal cells.

Astrocytes are important regulators of excitatory synaptic networks. However, astrocytes regulation of inhibitory synaptic systems remains ill defined. This is particularly relevant since GABAergic interneurons regulate the activity of excitatory cells and shape network function. To address this issue, we combined optogenetics and pharmacological approaches, two-photon confocal imaging and whole-cell recordings to specifically activate hippocampal somatostatin or paravalbumin-expressing interneurons (SOM-INs or PV-INs), while monitoring inhibitory synaptic currents in pyramidal cells and Ca2+ responses in astrocytes. We found that astrocytes detect SOM-IN synaptic activity via GABABR and GAT-3-dependent Ca2+ signaling mechanisms, the latter triggering the release of ATP. In turn, ATP is converted into adenosine, activating A1Rs and upregulating SOM-IN synaptic inhibition of pyramidal cells, but not PV-IN inhibition. Our findings uncover functional interactions between a specific subpopulation of interneurons, astrocytes and pyramidal cells, involved in positive feedback autoregulation of dendritic inhibition of pyramidal cells.

TRPA1 channels promote astrocytic Ca2+ hyperactivity and synaptic dysfunction mediated by oligomeric forms of amyloid-ß peptide.

BACKGROUND: Excessive synaptic loss is thought to be one of the earliest events in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the key mechanisms that maintain plasticity of synapses during adulthood or initiate synapse dysfunction in AD remain unknown. Recent studies suggest that astrocytes contribute to functional changes observed during synaptic plasticity and play a major role in synaptic dysfunction but astrocytes behavior and involvement in early phases of AD remained largely undefined. METHODS: We measure astrocytic calcium activity in mouse CA1 hippocampus stratum radiatum in both the global astrocytic population and at a single cell level, focusing in the highly compartmentalized astrocytic arbor. Concurrently, we measure excitatory post-synaptic currents in nearby pyramidal neurons. RESULTS: We find that application of soluble Aß oligomers (Aßo) induced fast and widespread calcium hyperactivity in the astrocytic population and in the microdomains of the astrocyte arbor. We show that astrocyte hyperactivity is independent of neuronal activity and is repaired by transient receptor potential A1 (TRPA1) channels blockade. In return, this TRPA1 channels-dependent hyperactivity influences neighboring CA1 neurons triggering an increase in glutamatergic spontaneous activity. Interestingly, in an AD mouse model (APP/PS1-21 mouse), astrocyte calcium hyperactivity equally takes place at the beginning of Aß production, depends on TRPA1 channels and is linked to CA1 neurons hyperactivity. CONCLUSIONS: Our experiments demonstrate that astrocytes contribute to early Aßo toxicity exhibiting a global and local Ca2+ hyperactivity that involves TRPA1 channels and is related to neuronal hyperactivity. Together, our data suggest that astrocyte is a frontline target of Aßo and highlight a novel mechanism for the understanding of early synaptic dysregulation induced by soluble Aßo species.

Disruption of dopaminergic transmission remodels tripartite synapse morphology and astrocytic calcium activity within substantia nigra pars reticulata.

The substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr) is a major output nucleus of the basal ganglia circuitry particularly sensitive to pathological dopamine depletion. Indeed, hyperactivity of SNr neurons is known to be responsible for some motor disorders characteristic of Parkinson's disease. The neuronal processing of basal ganglia dysfunction is well understood but, paradoxically, the role of astrocytes in the regulation of SNr activity has rarely been considered. We thus investigated the influence of the disruption of dopaminergic transmission on plastic changes at tripartite glutamatergic synapses in the rat SNr and on astrocyte calcium activity. In 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats, we observed structural plastic changes of tripartite glutamatergic synapses and perisynaptic astrocytic processes. These findings suggest that subthalamonigral synapses undergo morphological changes that accompany the pathophysiological processes of Parkinson's disease. The pharmacological blockade of dopaminergic transmission (with sulpiride and SCH-23390) increased astrocyte calcium excitability, synchrony and gap junction coupling within the SNr, suggesting a functional adaptation of astrocytes to dopamine transmission disruption in this output nucleus. This hyperactivity is partly reversed by subthalamic nucleus high-frequency stimulation which has emerged as an efficient symptomatic treatment for Parkinson's disease. Therefore, our results demonstrate structural and functional reshaping of neuronal and glial elements highlighting a functional plasticity of neuroglial interactions when dopamine transmission is disrupted.