IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v509y2014i7499d10.1038_nature13161.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Astrocyte-encoded positional cues maintain sensorimotor circuit integrity

Author

Listed:
  • Anna V. Molofsky

    (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California San Francisco
    Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California San Francisco
    University of California San Francisco)

  • Kevin W. Kelley

    (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California San Francisco
    Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California San Francisco
    University of California San Francisco
    Medical Scientist Training Program, University of California San Francisco)

  • Hui-Hsin Tsai

    (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California San Francisco
    Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California San Francisco
    University of California San Francisco)

  • Stephanie A. Redmond

    (Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California San Francisco
    University of California San Francisco)

  • Sandra M. Chang

    (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California San Francisco
    Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California San Francisco)

  • Lohith Madireddy

    (University of California San Francisco)

  • Jonah R. Chan

    (University of California San Francisco)

  • Sergio E. Baranzini

    (University of California San Francisco)

  • Erik M. Ullian

    (University of California San Francisco)

  • David H. Rowitch

    (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California San Francisco
    Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California San Francisco
    University of California San Francisco
    University of California San Francisco)

Abstract

Astrocytes, the most abundant cells in the central nervous system, promote synapse formation and help to refine neural connectivity. Although they are allocated to spatially distinct regional domains during development, it is unknown whether region-restricted astrocytes are functionally heterogeneous. Here we show that postnatal spinal cord astrocytes express several region-specific genes, and that ventral astrocyte-encoded semaphorin 3a (Sema3a) is required for proper motor neuron and sensory neuron circuit organization. Loss of astrocyte-encoded Sema3a leads to dysregulated α-motor neuron axon initial segment orientation, markedly abnormal synaptic inputs, and selective death of α- but not of adjacent γ-motor neurons. In addition, a subset of TrkA+ sensory afferents projects to ectopic ventral positions. These findings demonstrate that stable maintenance of a positional cue by developing astrocytes influences multiple aspects of sensorimotor circuit formation. More generally, they suggest that regional astrocyte heterogeneity may help to coordinate postnatal neural circuit refinement.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna V. Molofsky & Kevin W. Kelley & Hui-Hsin Tsai & Stephanie A. Redmond & Sandra M. Chang & Lohith Madireddy & Jonah R. Chan & Sergio E. Baranzini & Erik M. Ullian & David H. Rowitch, 2014. "Astrocyte-encoded positional cues maintain sensorimotor circuit integrity," Nature, Nature, vol. 509(7499), pages 189-194, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:509:y:2014:i:7499:d:10.1038_nature13161
    DOI: 10.1038/nature13161
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13161
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/nature13161?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pavel Shekhtmeyster & Erin M. Carey & Daniela Duarte & Alexander Ngo & Grace Gao & Nicholas A. Nelson & Charles L. Clark & Axel Nimmerjahn, 2023. "Multiplex translaminar imaging in the spinal cord of behaving mice," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:509:y:2014:i:7499:d:10.1038_nature13161. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.