Astrocytes instructively regulate neuronal translation

Neuronal protein synthesis is essential for synaptic plasticity and long-term memory, yet whether its regulation is shaped by other cell types remains poorly understood. Here, we show that astrocyte-secreted proteins regulate global neuronal translation depending on astrocytic state. Astrocyte-conditioned medium (ACM) increased neuronal translation under basal conditions, an effect enhanced by astrocyte stimulation with the activity-dependent factor BDNF, whereas ACM from neurotoxic reactive astrocytes, a state linked to neuroinflammation and Alzheimer's disease, suppressed neuronal translation. Across these conditions, neuronal mTORC1 activity consistently tracked with translational output, whereas the integrated stress response (ISR) acted through distinct, state-specific mechanisms that did not always track with neuronal translation. Furthermore, we identified astrocyte-secreted apolipoprotein E (APOE) and its associated cargo as a negative regulator of neuronal translation that contributed to the decreased translation induced by neurotoxic reactive astrocytes. We also found that astrocyte-secreted signals required neuronal endocytosis to influence translation and drove synaptic remodeling dependent on glutamatergic signaling and neuronal mTORC1 activity. Together, these findings identify astrocytes as active, instructive regulators of neuronal translation and synaptic structure, with implications for understanding how astrocyte dysfunction may disrupt the translational mechanisms underlying impairments in synaptic plasticity and long-term memory in neurodegenerative disease.