Dysregulated Neurotransmission induces Trans-synaptic degeneration in reconstructed Neuronal Networks

Bérangère Deleglise (1, 2) , Benjamin Lassus (1, 2) , Vanessa Soubeyre (1, 2) , Mohamed Doulazmi (1, 2) , Bernard Brugg (1, 2) , Peter Vanhoutte (2) , Jean-Michel Peyrin (1, 2, 3, 4)

1 B2A-IBPS - Adaptation Biologique et Vieillissement = Biological Adaptation and Ageing
2 IBPS - Institut de Biologie Paris Seine
3 VCII - Vieillissement Cellulaire Intégré et Inflammation
4 NPS - Neuroscience Paris Seine

Increasing evidence suggests that pathological hallmarks of chronic degenerative syndromes progressively spread among interconnected brain areas in a disease-specific stereotyped pattern. Functional brain imaging from patients affected by various neurological syndromes such as traumatic brain injury and stroke indicates that the progression of such diseases follows functional connections, rather than simply spreading to structurally adjacent areas. Indeed, initial damage to a given brain area was shown to disrupt the communication in related brain networks. Using cortico-striatal neuronal networks reconstructed in a microfluidic environment, we investigated the role of glutamate signaling in activity-dependent neuronal survival and trans-synaptic degeneration processes. Using a variety of neuronal insults applied on cortical neurons, we demonstrate that acute injuries such as axonal trauma, focal ischemia, or alteration of neuronal rhythms, lead to glutamate-dependent striatal neuron dysfunction. Interestingly, focal pro-oxidant insults or chronic alteration of spontaneous cortical rhythms provoked dysfunction of distant striatal neurons through abnormal glutamate GluN2B-NMDAR-mediated signaling at cortico-striatal synapses. These results indicate that focal alteration of cortical functions can initiate spreading of dysfunction along neuronal pathways in the brain, reminiscent of diaschisis-like processes.

Keywords: Cell death; Cell death in the nervous system

Domains: Neurobiology

Bérangère Deleglise, Benjamin Lassus, Vanessa Soubeyre, Mohamed Doulazmi, Bernard Brugg, et al.. Dysregulated Neurotransmission induces Trans-synaptic degeneration in reconstructed Neuronal Networks. Scientific Reports, 2018, 8, pp.11596. ⟨10.1038/s41598-018-29918-1⟩. ⟨hal-01907549⟩