Identification of astroglia-like cardiac nexus glia that are critical regulators of cardiac development and function.

ABSTRACT: Glial cells are essential for functionality of the nervous system. Growing evidence underscores the importance of astrocytes; however, analogous astroglia in peripheral organs are poorly understood. Using confocal time-lapse imaging, fate mapping, and mutant genesis in a zebrafish model, we identify a neural crest-derived glial cell, termed nexus glia, which utilizes Meteorin signaling via Jak/Stat3 to drive differentiation and regulate heart rate and rhythm. Nexus glia are labeled with gfap, glast, and glutamine synthetase, markers that typically denote astroglia cells. Further, analysis of single-cell sequencing datasets of human and murine hearts across ages reveals astrocyte-like cells, which we confirm through a multispecies approach. We show that cardiac nexus glia at the outflow tra

SUBMITTER: Kikel-Coury NL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8601506 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature