Astrocytic Ca2+ signaling is reduced during sleep and is involved in the regulation of slow wave sleep

Laura Bojarskaite, Daniel M. Bjørnstad, Klas H. Pettersen, Céline Cunen, Gudmund Horn Hermansen, Knut Sindre Åbjørsbråten, Anna R. Chambers, Rolf Sprengel, Koen Vervaeke, Wannan Tang, Rune Enger () and Erlend A. Nagelhus
Additional contact information
Laura Bojarskaite: Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo
Daniel M. Bjørnstad: Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo
Klas H. Pettersen: Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo
Céline Cunen: Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo
Gudmund Horn Hermansen: Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo
Knut Sindre Åbjørsbråten: Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo
Anna R. Chambers: Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo
Rolf Sprengel: Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Heidelberg University
Koen Vervaeke: Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo
Wannan Tang: Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo
Rune Enger: Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo
Erlend A. Nagelhus: Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Abstract Astrocytic Ca2+ signaling has been intensively studied in health and disease but has not been quantified during natural sleep. Here, we employ an activity-based algorithm to assess astrocytic Ca2+ signals in the neocortex of awake and naturally sleeping mice while monitoring neuronal Ca2+ activity, brain rhythms and behavior. We show that astrocytic Ca2+ signals exhibit distinct features across the sleep-wake cycle and are reduced during sleep compared to wakefulness. Moreover, an increase in astrocytic Ca2+ signaling precedes transitions from slow wave sleep to wakefulness, with a peak upon awakening exceeding the levels during whisking and locomotion. Finally, genetic ablation of an important astrocytic Ca2+ signaling pathway impairs slow wave sleep and results in an increased number of microarousals, abnormal brain rhythms, and an increased frequency of slow wave sleep state transitions and sleep spindles. Our findings demonstrate an essential role for astrocytic Ca2+ signaling in regulating slow wave sleep.

Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17062-2 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-17062-2

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17062-2

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().