Neurotoxic reactive astrocytes induce cell death via saturated lipids.

Astrocytes regulate the response of the central nervous system to disease and injury and have been hypothesized to actively kill neurons in neurodegenerative disease1-6. Here we report an approach to isolate one component of the long-sought astrocyte-derived toxic factor5,6. Notably, instead of a protein, saturated lipids contained in APOE and APOJ lipoparticles mediate astrocyte-induced toxicity. Eliminating the formation of long-chain saturated lipids by astrocyte-specific knockout of the saturated lipid synthesis enzyme ELOVL1 mitigates astrocyte-mediated toxicity in vitro as well as in a model of acute axonal injury in vivo. These results suggest a mechanism by which astrocytes kill cells in the central nervous system.

Neurotoxic reactive astrocytes are induced by activated microglia.

Reactive astrocytes are strongly induced by central nervous system (CNS) injury and disease, but their role is poorly understood. Here we show that a subtype of reactive astrocytes, which we termed A1, is induced by classically activated neuroinflammatory microglia. We show that activated microglia induce A1 astrocytes by secreting Il-1α, TNF and C1q, and that these cytokines together are necessary and sufficient to induce A1 astrocytes. A1 astrocytes lose the ability to promote neuronal survival, outgrowth, synaptogenesis and phagocytosis, and induce the death of neurons and oligodendrocytes. Death of axotomized CNS neurons in vivo is prevented when the formation of A1 astrocytes is blocked. Finally, we show that A1 astrocytes are abundant in various human neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's, Huntington's and Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and multiple sclerosis. Taken together these findings help to explain why CNS neurons die after axotomy, strongly suggest that A1 astrocytes contribute to the death of neurons and oligodendrocytes in neurodegenerative disorders, and provide opportunities for the development of new treatments for these diseases.

Play It Again, SAM: Macrophages Control Peripheral Fat Metabolism.

Macrophages and other immune cells are increasingly recognized to have unique and nontraditional functions in various tissues of the body. In a recent issue of Nature Medicine, Pirzgalska et al. [1] characterized a unique set of tissue-specialized macrophages that modulate the connection between the nervous system and subcutaneous fat.

Why you always in a mood? Pumpin' polyP, actin' brand new.

What causes neurons to die in neurodegenerative disease? In this issue of Neuron, Arredondo et al., 2022 report an unexpected culprit that may drive neuronal death in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-an evolutionarily ancient energy-storage polymer called polyphosphate (polyP).

Monitoring phagocytic uptake of amyloid ß into glial cell lysosomes in real time.

Phagocytosis by glial cells is essential to regulate brain function during health and disease. Therapies for Alzheimer's disease (AD) have primarily focused on targeting antibodies to amyloid ß (Aß) or inhibitng enzymes that make it, and while removal of Aß by phagocytosis is protective early in AD it remains poorly understood. Impaired phagocytic function of glial cells during later stages of AD likely contributes to worsened disease outcome, but the underlying mechanisms of how this occurs remain unknown. We have developed a human Aß1-42 analogue (AßpH) that exhibits green fluorescence upon internalization into the acidic organelles of cells but is non-fluorescent at physiological pH. This allowed us to image, for the first time, glial uptake of AßpH in real time in live animals. We find that microglia phagocytose more AßpH than astrocytes in culture, in brain slices and in vivo. AßpH can be used to investigate the phagocytic mechanisms responsible for removing Aß from the extracellular space, and thus could become a useful tool to study Aß clearance at different stages of AD.

Single-cell transcriptomic analysis of the adult mouse spinal cord reveals molecular diversity of autonomic and skeletal motor neurons.

The spinal cord is a fascinating structure that is responsible for coordinating movement in vertebrates. Spinal motor neurons control muscle activity by transmitting signals from the spinal cord to diverse peripheral targets. In this study, we profiled 43,890 single-nucleus transcriptomes from the adult mouse spinal cord using fluorescence-activated nuclei sorting to enrich for motor neuron nuclei. We identified 16 sympathetic motor neuron clusters, which are distinguishable by spatial localization and expression of neuromodulatory signaling genes. We found surprising skeletal motor neuron heterogeneity in the adult spinal cord, including transcriptional differences that correlate with electrophysiologically and spatially distinct motor pools. We also provide evidence for a novel transcriptional subpopulation of skeletal motor neuron (γ*). Collectively, these data provide a single-cell transcriptional atlas ( http://spinalcordatlas.org ) for investigating the organizing molecular logic of adult motor neuron diversity, as well as the cellular and molecular basis of motor neuron function in health and disease.

Knockout of reactive astrocyte activating factors slows disease progression in an ALS mouse model.

Reactive astrocytes have been implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, including a non-cell autonomous effect on motor neuron survival in ALS. We previously defined a mechanism by which microglia release three factors, IL-1α, TNFα, and C1q, to induce neurotoxic astrocytes. Here we report that knocking out these three factors markedly extends survival in the SOD1G93A ALS mouse model, providing evidence for gliosis as a potential ALS therapeutic target.

Neurotoxic Reactive Astrocytes Drive Neuronal Death after Retinal Injury.

Glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease that features the death of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in the retina, often as a result of prolonged increases in intraocular pressure. We show that preventing the formation of neuroinflammatory reactive astrocytes prevents the death of RGCs normally seen in a mouse model of glaucoma. Furthermore, we show that these spared RGCs are electrophysiologically functional and thus still have potential value for the function and regeneration of the retina. Finally, we demonstrate that the death of RGCs depends on a combination of both an injury to the neurons and the presence of reactive astrocytes, suggesting a model that may explain why reactive astrocytes are toxic only in some circumstances. Altogether, these findings highlight reactive astrocytes as drivers of RGC death in a chronic neurodegenerative disease of the eye.

CD49f Is a Novel Marker of Functional and Reactive Human iPSC-Derived Astrocytes.

New methods for investigating human astrocytes are urgently needed, given their critical role in the central nervous system. Here we show that CD49f is a novel marker for human astrocytes, expressed in fetal and adult brains from healthy and diseased individuals. CD49f can be used to purify fetal astrocytes and human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived astrocytes. We provide single-cell and bulk transcriptome analyses of CD49f+ hiPSC-astrocytes and demonstrate that they perform key astrocytic functions in vitro, including trophic support of neurons, glutamate uptake, and phagocytosis. Notably, CD49f+ hiPSC-astrocytes respond to inflammatory stimuli, acquiring an A1-like reactive state, in which they display impaired phagocytosis and glutamate uptake and fail to support neuronal maturation. Most importantly, we show that conditioned medium from human reactive A1-like astrocytes is toxic to human and rodent neurons. CD49f+ hiPSC-astrocytes are thus a valuable resource for investigating human astrocyte function and dysfunction in health and disease.

Astrocytes and microglia: Models and tools.

Glial cells serve as fundamental regulators of the central nervous system in development, homeostasis, and disease. Discoveries into the function of these cells have fueled excitement in glial research, with enthusiastic researchers addressing fundamental questions about glial biology and producing new scientific tools for the community. Here, we outline the pros and cons of in vivo and in vitro techniques to study astrocytes and microglia with the goal of helping researchers quickly identify the best approach for a given research question in the context of glial biology. It is truly a great time to be a glial biologist.