Activity dependent modulation of glial gap junction coupling in the thalamus
Paula Baum,
Anna Beinhauer,
Lara Zirwes,
Linda Loenneker,
Ronald Jabs,
Rajeevan T. Narayanan,
Marcel Oberlaender,
Gerald Seifert,
Helmut Kettenmann,
Christian Steinhäuser
Affiliations
Paula Baum
Institute of Cellular Neurosciences, Medical Faculty, University of Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany
Anna Beinhauer
Institute of Cellular Neurosciences, Medical Faculty, University of Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany
Lara Zirwes
Institute of Cellular Neurosciences, Medical Faculty, University of Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany
Linda Loenneker
Institute of Cellular Neurosciences, Medical Faculty, University of Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany
Ronald Jabs
Institute of Cellular Neurosciences, Medical Faculty, University of Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany
Rajeevan T. Narayanan
In Silico Brain Sciences Group, Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior - caesar, 53175 Bonn, Germany
Marcel Oberlaender
In Silico Brain Sciences Group, Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior - caesar, 53175 Bonn, Germany; Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, VU Amsterdam, 081 Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Gerald Seifert
Institute of Cellular Neurosciences, Medical Faculty, University of Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany
Helmut Kettenmann
Cellular Neurosciences, Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, 13125 Berlin, Germany; Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China
Christian Steinhäuser
Institute of Cellular Neurosciences, Medical Faculty, University of Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany; Corresponding author
Summary: Astrocytes and oligodendrocytes in the ventrobasal thalamus are electrically coupled through gap junctions. We have previously shown that these cells form large panglial networks, which have a key role in the transfer of energy substrates to postsynapses for sustaining neuronal activity. Here, we show that the efficiency of these transfer networks is regulated by synaptic activity: preventing the generation and propagation of action potentials resulted in reduced glial coupling. Systematic analyses of mice deficient for individual connexin isoforms revealed that oligodendroglial Cx32 and Cx47 are the targets of this modulation. Importantly, we show that during a critical time window, sensory deprivation through whisker trimming reduces the efficiency of the glial transfer networks also in vivo. Together with our previous results the current findings indicate that neuronal activity and provision of energy metabolites through panglial coupling are interdependent events regulated in a bidirectional manner.
