Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience (Feb 2015)
Mitochondrial fission and fusion in astrocytes: a new pathway towards senescence
Abstract
Astrocytes are highly specialized cells that can maintain the integrity of the synapse, facilitate nutrition and trophic support to neurons, and regulate metabolic coupling between neurons and glia. However, astrocytes are involved in resolving different types of injuries and in aging processes in the brain. Senescence has also been reported in the brain, and senescence-associated loss of astrocyte function is linked to neuronal dysfunction in age-related neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson's disease. For example, astrocyte senescence per se inhibits synapse maturation and affects synaptic transmission. In response to the cell’s bio-energetic state, mitochondria continuously undergo structural remodeling through fission and fusion processes. These tightly regulated events are believed to be involved in many cellular events such as apoptosis, senescence, and age-related diseases. Although, little is known about the age-related changes that occur in astrocytes and if these cells are able to generate a senescent phenotype mediated by mitochondria, in the present study we evaluated the involvement of mitochondrial remodeling in the senescence process of rat astrocytes in vitro. The results obtained showed that when comparing cells at population doubling two (PD2) with cells at population doubling ten (PD10) there is a significant increase in the activity of the senescence-associated β-galactosidase marker in PD10 cells. In addition, PD10 cells had increased mitochondrial volume, decreased superoxide production, and decreased mitochondrial membrane potential. Protein characterization evidenced changes in the balance between mitochondrial fission and fusion proteins. Collectively, our results demonstrated a senescent-astrocyte phenotype at PD10, which is associated with metabolic and mitochondrial phenotype changes.
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