1 Institute of Neuroscience and State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China 

2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China 

3 Shanghai Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence Technology, Shanghai 201210, China

 

Abstract

Abnormal synchronous neuronal activity has been widely detected by brain imaging of autistic patients, but its underlying neural mechanism remains unclear. Compared with wild-type mice, our in vivo two-photon imaging showed that transgenic (Tg1) mice over-expressing human autism risk gene MeCP2 exhibited higher neuronal synchrony in the young but lower synchrony in the adult stage. Whole-cell recording of neuronal pairs in brain slices revealed that higher neuronal synchrony in young postnatal Tg1 mice was attributed mainly to more prevalent giant slow inward currents (SICs). Both in vivo and slice imaging further demonstrated more dynamic activity and higher synchrony in astrocytes from young Tg1 mice. Blocking astrocytic gap junctions markedly decreased the generation of SICs and overall cell synchrony in the Tg1 brain. Furthermore, the expression level of Cx43 protein and the coupling efficiency of astrocyte gap junctions remained unchanged in Tg1 mice. Thus, astrocytic gap junctions facilitate but do not act as a direct trigger for the abnormal neuronal synchrony in young Tg1 mice, revealing the potential role of the astrocyte network in the pathogenesis of MeCP2 duplication syndrome.

 

Keywords

Autism spectrum disorder; Astrocyte; Gap junction; Neuronal synchrony; MeCP2; Slow inward current; Neuronal development

 

[SpringerLink]