Glutamate transporter GLAST controls synaptic wrapping by Bergmann glia and ensures proper wiring of Purkinje cells.

ABSTRACT: Astrocytes regulate synaptic transmission through controlling neurotransmitter concentrations around synapses. Little is known, however, about their roles in neural circuit development. Here we report that Bergmann glia (BG), specialized cerebellar astrocytes that thoroughly enwrap Purkinje cells (PCs), are essential for synaptic organization in PCs through the action of the l-glutamate/l-aspartate transporter (GLAST). In GLAST-knockout mice, dendritic innervation by the main ascending climbing fiber (CF) branch was significantly weakened, whereas the transverse branch, which is thin and nonsynaptogenic in control mice, was transformed into thick and synaptogenic branches. Both types of CF branches frequently produced aberrant wiring to proximal and distal dendrites, causing multiple CF-PC

SUBMITTER: Miyazaki T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5514701 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature