Glial biology articles from across Nature Portfolio

The developmental colonization of the brain by microglial progenitors and establishment of microglial cell identity set the stage for microglial function in the adult. Barry-Carroll and Gomez-Nicola describe the mechanisms that regulate the development of microglia, including their origins, infiltration and colonization of the brain, proliferation and fate determination.

Macroglia are neural cells that have garnered less interest than neurons despite their crucial functions including neurogenesis. Here the authors use sequencing from several species to investigate the evolution of macroglia and of adult neurogenesis.

A study investigates subcellular, single-cell and network-level comunication within the astrocyte network in response to the two major neurotransmitter inputs.

Astrocyte calcium increases can alter brain state, but their dynamics during different behaviors have not been fully described. Here, the authors use multicore fiber optic imaging in freely moving mice to show that astrocyte engagement in behavior is influenced by the motivational state.

Glial cells and their crosstalk after injury are crucial for brain regeneration. Here, the authors show the spatial, temporal, and single-cell responses of glial cells after injury and identify shared pathways controlling glial reactivity.

How astrocytes can integrate information is incompletely understood. Here the authors show that locus coeruleus-controlled calcium signals in hippocampal astrocytes propagating from their processes to their soma are involved in the information integration upon salient events.

The underrepresentation of functional glial cells is a major challenge in brain organoid models. We developed an astroglia-enriched cortical organoid model that allows efficient generation of functional astrocytes and enables the formation of astroglial morphological subclasses with layer-specific gene expression profiles upon transplantation into the mouse brain.

The Sehgal lab presents data showing that the non-cell autonomous pathway of glial lipid droplet formation occurs during sleep and helps to resolve neuronal reactive oxygen species (ROS). This promotes neuronal function after an active day. Hence, this pathway has an important physiological function beyond its previously described role in ROS-associated diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease.

Using in vivo imaging in zebrafish, we unveiled critical components (PSD-95, gephyrin and neuroligin-3) and dynamic properties of synapses between neurons and oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPC). Furthermore, we showed that neuron–OPC synapses have a pivotal role in regulating OPC development and CNS myelination.

Glial cells influence brain function and disease progression. This study identifies signals that elicit hemorrhage-specific glia plasticity, including proliferation and the acquisition of neural stem cell properties. It thereby sets a foundation for aligning glia reactivity with disease progression and for attempting to use this endogenous stem cell pool for brain repair.

We show that genetic disruption of TFEB- and vacuolar ATPase-mediated lysosomal signaling leads to increased tau pathology and defective microglia activation. Our findings demonstrate an essential role of the lysosome in regulating microglia activity in tauopathy and Alzheimer’s disease.