PARTICIPATION OF ASTROCYTES AS ACTIVE ELEMENTS IN OSMOTRANSDUCTION OF THE SUPRAOPTIC NUCLEUS OF MICE

• Grant number: 23/01652-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: August 01, 2023
• Status: Discontinued
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biophysics - Cellular Biophysics
• Principal Investigator: Melina Pires da Silva
• Grantee: Karoline Martins dos Santos
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/22511-1 - The Role of Supraoptic Nucleus Astrocytes in Modulating Osmoregulatory Responses from Organum Vasculosum of the Lamina Terminalis, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

For many years neurons were considered as the exclusive protagonists of the brain. In this context, glial cells were considered only as structural elements in areas not occupied by neuronal cells. In recent years, experimental evidence has suggested that these cells have other functions. Some experiments have been demonstrated that astrocytes present in the supraoptic nucleus may trigger sensorial functions, including osmoregulation. However, little is known about how astrocytes initiate these responses and, if so, how they trigger specialized cellular behaviors related to osmoregulation. In this sense, this project is related to investigate the osmoregulatory mechanisms in order to clarify the influence of astrocytes in the excitability of the magnocellular neurons during increases in the osmolality. In a practical perspective, we intend to use genetically modified animals, in which express a calcium sensor (GCaMP6s) or channelrhodopsins (ChR2), in the astrocytes, to monitor the activity of these cells during osmolality changes using multiphoton microscopy and cellular electrophysiology. The combination of these techniques will allow us to clarify the physiological role of SON astrocytes in osmolarity disorders and to understand the biophysical neuron-astrocyte interaction in this nucleus.