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Parallel astrocyte calcium signaling modulates olfactory bulb responses
Author(s) -
Ung Kevin,
Tepe Burak,
Pekarek Brandon,
Arenkiel Benjamin R.,
Deneen Benjamin
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of neuroscience research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.72
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1097-4547
pISSN - 0360-4012
DOI - 10.1002/jnr.24634
Subject(s) - olfactory bulb , neuroscience , astrocyte , odor , olfactory system , calcium imaging , sensory system , premovement neuronal activity , biology , excitatory postsynaptic potential , biological neural network , central nervous system , calcium , chemistry , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , organic chemistry
Astrocytes are the most abundant glial cell in the central nervous system. They modulate synaptic function through a variety of mechanisms, and yet remain relatively understudied with respect to overall neuronal circuit function. Exploiting the tractability of the mouse olfactory system, we manipulated astrocyte activity and examined how astrocytes modulate olfactory bulb responses. Toward this, we genetically targeted both astrocytes and neurons for in vivo widefield imaging of Ca 2+ responses to odor stimuli. We found that astrocytes exhibited odor response maps that overlap with excitatory neuronal activity. By manipulating Ca 2+ activity in astrocytes using chemical genetics we found that odor‐evoked neuronal activity was reciprocally affected, suggesting that astrocyte activation inhibits neuronal odor responses. Subsequently, behavioral experiments revealed that astrocyte manipulations affect both odor detection threshold and discrimination, suggesting that astrocytes play an active role in olfactory sensory processing circuits. Together, these studies show that astrocyte calcium signaling contributes to olfactory behavior through modulation of sensory circuits.