Functional Evaluation of Astrocytic Responses to Stress

In order to fully understand the contribution of astrocytes to stress-related psychiatric disorders, functional assays are required. There are numerous approaches that can be used to study astrocyte function including live-cell imaging of surface protein trafficking, patch-clamp recording of glutamate transporter currents, or calcium imaging using inorganic dyes and genetically encoded calcium indicators. Here, we will outline a method to record and analyze calcium activity in astrocytes using virus-mediated expression of the genetically encoded calcium indicator GCaMP. This approach gives insight into specific astrocyte changes in response to stress which could include hyper- or hypo-activity in these cells.