Related Experiment Videos
Translation in astrocyte distal processes sets molecular heterogeneity at the gliovascular interface
Anne-Cécile Boulay1, Bruno Saubaméa2, Nicolas Adam3
1Neuroglial Interactions in Cerebral Physiopathology/Collège de France, Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology (CIRB)/Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique CNRS, UMR 7241/Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale INSERM, U1050/University Pierre et Marie Curie UPMC, ED, No. 158/MEMOLIFE Laboratory of Excellence and PSL Research University, Paris, France; Variabilité des réponses aux psychotropes, INSERM U1144/Faculté de Pharmacie de Paris/Université Paris Descartes/Université Paris Diderot/Université Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France.
Abstract:
Astrocytes send out long processes that are terminated by endfeet at the vascular surface and regulate vascular functions as well as homeostasis at the vascular interface. To date, the astroglial mechanisms underlying these functions have been poorly addressed. Here we demonstrate that a subset of messenger RNAs is distributed in astrocyte endfeet. We identified, among this transcriptome, a pool of messenger RNAs bound to ribosomes, the endfeetome, that primarily encodes for secreted and membrane proteins. We detected nascent protein synthesis in astrocyte endfeet. Finally, we determined the presence of smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus in astrocyte perivascular processes and endfeet, suggesting for local maturation of membrane and secreted proteins. These results demonstrate for the first time that protein synthesis occurs in astrocyte perivascular distal processes that may sustain their structural and functional polarization at the vascular interface.