Astrocytes as essential time-keepers of the central pacemaker

Autor(es)

Astiz, Mariana ^[1] ; Delgado-Garcia, Lina Maria ^[2] ; Lopez-Mascaraque, Laura ^[3]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Lubeck, Ctr Brain Behav & Metab CBBM, Inst Neurobiol, Marie Curie Str, D-23562 Lubeck - Germany

^[2] Univ Fed Sao Paulo, UNIFESP, Dept Biochem, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[3] CSIC, Inst Cajal, Madrid - Spain

• Tipo de documento: Artigo de Revisão
• Fonte: Glia; NOV 2021.
• Citações Web of Science: 0

Resumo

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. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 16/19084-8 - Crosstalk entre Wnt, SHH e Notch e o efeito da proteína Gal3 na regulação da proliferação de células-tronco neurais derivadas de astrócitos reativos
• Beneficiário: Lina Maria Delgado Garcia
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 19/09183-7 - Caracterização das respostas clonais astrogliais em modelos animais experimentais de lesão cerebral
• Beneficiário: Lina Maria Delgado Garcia
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Exterior - Estágio de Pesquisa - Doutorado