Astrocytic glutamate regulation is shaped by adversity and glucocorticoid signalling.

ABSTRACT: Astrocytes are a brain cell type vulnerable to the effects of stress and the development of psychiatric-like phenotypes in animals, yet how this translates to humans is unclear. Here, we probed the diversity of ~145,000 total human cortical astrocytes with single nucleus and spatial transcriptomics, showing that human astrocytes comprise a molecularly and anatomically diverse cell population. In individuals with psychiatric disorders and high adversity exposure, we identified distinct alterations to glutamate-related synaptic functions, supported by histological quantification of >20,000 astrocytes. Early-life adversity exposure produced more pronounced cellular changes than adversity experienced later in life, and female cases displayed stronger transcriptomic associations than males with

SUBMITTER: Kaul D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12458319 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature