Summary: The removal of excitatory synapses by astrocytes, triggered by stress hormones, can lead to mental illnesses induced by childhood neglect or abuse.
The study reveals that synthetic glucocorticoids, or stress hormones, can boost astrocyte-mediated phagocytosis to abnormal levels.
Utilizing human-induced pluripotent stem cells and brain organoids, they found that these processes occur in humans as well, potentially pointing to a way to prevent and treat such mental disorders. This pioneering research provides novel insights into understanding and treating brain diseases.
Key Facts:
- The research team identified that astrocyte-mediated excessive removal of excitatory synapses in the brain in response to stress hormones is a cause of mental diseases resulting from childhood neglect and abuse.
- They found that synthetic glucocorticoids or stress hormones enhance astrocyte-mediated phagocytosis, which if chronic can lead to various mental diseases including depression, cognitive disorders, and anxiety.
- Using human brain organoids, the team confirmed that the astrocytes subsequently eliminated excessive amounts of excitatory synapses in response to stress hormones, indicating a similar synapse control mechanism in humans.
Source: KAIST
Childhood neglect and/or abuse can induce extreme stress that significantly changes neural networks and functions during growth. This can lead to mental illnesses, including depression and schizophrenia, but the exact mechanism and means to control it were yet to be discovered.
On August 1, a KAIST research team led by Professor Won-Suk Chung from the Department of Biological Sciences announced the identification of excessive synapse removal mediated by astrocytes as the cause of mental diseases induced by childhood abuse trauma.
Their research was published in Immunity, a top international journal in the field of immunology.
The research team discovered that the excessive astrocyte-mediated removal of excitatory synapses in the brain in response to stress hormones is a cause of mental diseases induced by childhood neglect and abuse.
Clinical data have previously shown that high levels of stress can lead to various mental diseases, but the exact mechanism has been unknown. The results of this research therefore are expected to be widely applied to the prevention and treatment of such diseases.
The research team clinically screened an FDA-approved drug to uncover the mechanism that regulates the phagocytotic role of astrocytes, in which they capture external substances and eliminate them. As a result, the team found that synthetic glucocorticoids, namely stress hormones, enhanced astrocyte-mediated phagocytosis to an abnormal level.
Glucocorticoids play essential roles in processes that maintain life, such as carbohydrate metabolism and anti-inflammation, but are also secreted in response to external stimuli such as stress, allowing the body to respond appropriately.
However, excessive and long-term exposure to glucocorticoids caused by chronic stress can lead to various mental diseases including depression, cognitive disorders, and anxiety.
To understand the changes in astrocyte functions caused by childhood stress, the research team used mice models with early social deprivation, and discovered that stress hormones bind to the glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) of astrocytes. This significantly increased the expression of Mer tyrosine kinase (MERK), which plays an essential role in astrocyte phagocytosis.
Surprisingly, out of the various neurons in the cerebral cortex, astrocytes would eliminate only the excitatory synapses of specific neurons. The team found that this builds abnormal neural networks, which can lead to complex behavioral abnormalities such as social deficiencies and depression in adulthood.
The team also observed that microglia, which also play an important role in cerebral immunity, did not contribute to synapse removal in the mice models with early social deprivation. This confirms that the response to stress hormones during childhood is specifically astrocyte-mediated.
To find out whether these results are also applicable in humans, the research team used a brain organoid grown from human-induced pluripotent stem cells to observe human responses to stress hormones.
The team observed that the stress hormones induced astrocyte GRs and phagocyte activation in the human brain organoid as well, and confirmed that the astrocytes subsequently eliminated excessive amounts of excitatory synapses.
By showing that mice and humans both showed the same synapse control mechanism in response to stress, the team suggested that this discovery is applicable to mental disorders in humans.
Prof. Won-Suk Chung said, “Until now, we did not know the exact mechanism for how childhood stress caused brain diseases. This research was the first to show that the excessive phagocytosis of astrocytes could be an important cause of such diseases.”
He added, “In the future, controlling the immune response of astrocytes will be used as a fundamental target for understanding and treating brain diseases.”
This research, written by co-first authors Youkyeong Byun (Ph.D. candidate) and Nam-Shik Kim (post-doctoral associate) from the KAIST Department of Biological Sciences, was published in the internationally renowned journal Immunity, a sister magazine of Cell and one of the best journal in the field of immunology, on July 31 under the title “Stress induces behavioral abnormalities by increasing expression of phagocytic receptor MERTK in astrocytes to promote synapse phagocytosis.”
Funding: This work was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea grant, the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), and the Korea Dementia Research Center (KDRC).
About this mental health and childhood trauma research news
Author: Yoonju Hong
Source: KAIST
Contact: Yoonju Hong – KAIST
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Stress induces behavioral abnormalities by increasing expression of phagocytic receptor, MERTK, in astrocytes to promote synapse phagocytosis” by Won-Suk Chung et al. Immunity
Abstract
Stress induces behavioral abnormalities by increasing expression of phagocytic receptor, MERTK, in astrocytes to promote synapse phagocytosis
Highlights
- Stress hormones induce astrocyte-mediated phagocytosis through GR-MERTK activation
- Astrocytic GR-MERTK activation induces excitatory synapse loss in ESD model mice
- ESD model mice show abnormal behaviors with increased cortical neuronal firing
- Ablating GR-MERTK in astrocytes prevents ESD-evoked synapse loss and behavior symptoms
Summary
Childhood neglect and/or abuse can induce mental health conditions with unknown mechanisms. Here, we identified stress hormones as strong inducers of astrocyte-mediated synapse phagocytosis.
Using in vitro, in vivo, and human brain organoid experiments, we showed that stress hormones increased the expression of the Mertk phagocytic receptor in astrocytes through glucocorticoid receptor (GR).
In post-natal mice, exposure to early social deprivation (ESD) specifically activated the GR-MERTK pathway in astrocytes, but not in microglia. The excitatory post-synaptic density in cortical regions was reduced in ESD mice, and there was an increase in the astrocytic engulfment of these synapses.
The loss of excitatory synapses, abnormal neuronal network activities, and behavioral abnormalities in ESD mice were largely prevented by ablating GR or MERTK in astrocytes.
Our work reveals the critical roles of astrocytic GR-MERTK activation in evoking stress-induced abnormal behaviors in mice, suggesting GR-MERTK signaling as a therapeutic target for stress-induced mental health conditions.
