GSBS Student Publications
Title
Neuron-glia interactions through the Heartless FGF receptor signaling pathway mediate morphogenesis of Drosophila astrocytes
GSBS Program
Neuroscience
Publication Date
2014-07-16
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Neurobiology; Freeman Lab; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience Program
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Developmental Neuroscience | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience
Abstract
Astrocytes are critically important for neuronal circuit assembly and function. Mammalian protoplasmic astrocytes develop a dense ramified meshwork of cellular processes to form intimate contacts with neuronal cell bodies, neurites, and synapses. This close neuron-glia morphological relationship is essential for astrocyte function, but it remains unclear how astrocytes establish their intricate morphology, organize spatial domains, and associate with neurons and synapses in vivo. Here we characterize a Drosophila glial subtype that shows striking morphological and functional similarities to mammalian astrocytes. We demonstrate that the Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptor Heartless autonomously controls astrocyte membrane growth, and the FGFs Pyramus and Thisbe direct astrocyte processes to ramify specifically in CNS synaptic regions. We further show that the shape and size of individual astrocytes are dynamically sculpted through inhibitory or competitive astrocyte-astrocyte interactions and Heartless FGF signaling. Our data identify FGF signaling through Heartless as a key regulator of astrocyte morphological elaboration in vivo.
DOI of Published Version
10.1016/j.neuron.2014.06.026
Source
Neuron. 2014 Jul 16;83(2):388-403. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2014.06.026. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Neuron
Related Resources
PubMed ID
25033182
Repository Citation
Stork, Tobias; Sheehan, Amy E.; Tasdemir-Yilmaz, Ozge E.; and Freeman, Marc R., "Neuron-glia interactions through the Heartless FGF receptor signaling pathway mediate morphogenesis of Drosophila astrocytes" (2014). GSBS Student Publications. 1961.
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/gsbs_sp/1961