Astrocytes as essential time-keepers of the central pacemaker.

ABSTRACT

Since the early observations made by Santiago Ramon y Cajal more than a century ago till now, astrocytes have gradually gained protagonism as essential partners of neurons in building brain circuits that regulate complex behavior. In mammals, processes such as sleep-wake cycle, locomotor activity, cognition and memory consolidation, homeostatic and hedonic appetite and stress response (among others), are synchronized in 24-h rhythms by the circadian system. In such a way, physiology efficiently anticipates and adapts to daily recurring changes in the environment. The hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is considered the central pacemaker, it has been traditionally described as a nucleus of around 10,000 neurons nearly all GABAergic able to be entrained by light and to convey time information through multiple neuronal and hormonal pathways. Only recently, this neuro-centered view was challenged by breakthrough discoveries implicating astrocytes as essential time-keepers. In the present review, we will describe the current view on the SCN circuit and discuss whether astrocytic functions described in other brain regions and state-of-the-art experimental approaches, could help explaining better those well- and not so well-known features of the central pacemaker.