Neurons and astrocytes have distinct organelle signatures and responses to stress

ABSTRACT: Neurons and astrocytes play critical yet divergent roles in brain physiology and neurological conditions. Intracellular organelles are integral to cellular function. However, an in-depth characterization of organelles in live neural cells has not been performed. Here, we used multispectral imaging to simultaneously visualize six organelles – endoplasmic reticulum (ER), lysosomes, mitochondria, peroxisomes, Golgi, and lipid droplets – in live primary rodent neurons and astrocytes. We generated a dataset of 173 Z-stack and 99 time-lapse images accompanied by quantitative analysis of 1418 metrics (“the organelle signature”). Comparative analysis revealed clear cell-type specificity in organelle morphology and interactions. Neurons were characterized by prominent mitochondrial composition and interactions, while astrocytes contained more lysosomes and lipid droplet interactions. Additionally, neurons displayed a more robust organelle response than astrocytes to acute oxidative or ER stress. Our data provide a systems-level characterization of neuron and astrocyte organelles that can be a reference for understanding cell-type-specific physiology and disease.

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PROVIDER: S-BIAD1445 | bioimages |

REPOSITORIES: bioimages