Astrocytes phagocytose adult hippocampal synapses for circuit homeostasis

Joon-Hyuk Lee, Ji-young Kim, Seulgi Noh, Hyoeun Lee, Se Young Lee, Ji Young Mun, Hyungju Park () and Won-Suk Chung ()
Additional contact information
Joon-Hyuk Lee: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Ji-young Kim: Korea Brain Research Institute (KBRI)
Seulgi Noh: Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST)
Hyoeun Lee: Korea Brain Research Institute (KBRI)
Se Young Lee: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Ji Young Mun: Korea Brain Research Institute (KBRI)
Hyungju Park: Korea Brain Research Institute (KBRI)
Won-Suk Chung: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)

Nature, 2021, vol. 590, issue 7847, 612-617

Abstract: Abstract In the adult hippocampus, synapses are constantly formed and eliminated1,2. However, the exact function of synapse elimination in the adult brain, and how it is regulated, are largely unknown. Here we show that astrocytic phagocytosis3 is important for maintaining proper hippocampal synaptic connectivity and plasticity. By using fluorescent phagocytosis reporters, we find that excitatory and inhibitory synapses are eliminated by glial phagocytosis in the CA1 region of the adult mouse hippocampus. Unexpectedly, we found that astrocytes have a major role in the neuronal activity-dependent elimination of excitatory synapses. Furthermore, mice in which astrocytes lack the phagocytic receptor MEGF10 show a reduction in the elimination of excitatory synapses; as a result, excessive but functionally impaired synapses accumulate. Finally, Megf10-knockout mice show defective long-term synaptic plasticity and impaired formation of hippocampal memories. Together, our data provide strong evidence that astrocytes eliminate unnecessary excitatory synaptic connections in the adult hippocampus through MEGF10, and that this astrocytic function is crucial for maintaining circuit connectivity and thereby supporting cognitive function.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03060-3 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:nature:v:590:y:2021:i:7847:d:10.1038_s41586-020-03060-3

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

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-03060-3

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

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