Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Ileanexis Rosado-Burgos
Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Jacob E. Christofi
Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Eliza Ansar
Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Dalia Einstein
Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Ashley E. Walters
Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Valentina Valentini
Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, 09124 Cagliari, Italy
John P. Bruno
Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Neuroscience, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Elizabeth D. Kirby
Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Neuroscience, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Chronic Brain Injury Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Corresponding author
Summary: Within the adult mammalian dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus, glutamate stimulates neural stem cell (NSC) self-renewing proliferation, providing a link between adult neurogenesis and local circuit activity. Here, we show that glutamate-induced self-renewal of adult DG NSCs requires glutamate transport via excitatory amino acid transporter 1 (EAAT1) to stimulate lipogenesis. Loss of EAAT1 prevented glutamate-induced self-renewing proliferation of NSCs in vitro and in vivo, with little role evident for canonical glutamate receptors. Transcriptomics and further pathway manipulation revealed that glutamate simulation of NSCs relied on EAAT1 transport-stimulated lipogenesis. Our findings demonstrate a critical, direct role for EAAT1 in stimulating NSCs to support neurogenesis in adulthood, thereby providing insights into a non-canonical mechanism by which NSCs sense and respond to their niche.
