CLEC16A in astrocytes promotes mitophagy and limits pathology in a multiple sclerosis mouse model.

Astrocytes promote neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis (MS) through cell-intrinsic activities and their ability to recruit and activate other cell types. In a genome-wide CRISPR-based forward genetic screen investigating regulators of astrocyte proinflammatory responses, we identified the C-type lectin domain-containing 16A gene (CLEC16A), linked to MS susceptibility, as a suppressor of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling. Gene and small-molecule perturbation studies in mouse primary and human embryonic stem cell-derived astrocytes in combination with multiomic analyses established that CLEC16A promotes mitophagy, limiting mitochondrial dysfunction and the accumulation of mitochondrial products that activate NF-κB, the NLRP3 inflammasome and gasdermin D.

Gasdermin D is activated but does not drive neurodegeneration in SOD1 model of ALS: Implications for targeting pyroptosis.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive motor neuron loss, microgliosis, and neuroinflammation. While pyroptosis, an inflammatory form of programmed cell death, has been implicated in ALS, the specific role of Gasdermin D (GSDMD) - the primary executioner of pyroptosis - remains unexplored. In this study, we examined the function of GSDMD in the well-established SOD1 mouse model of ALS.

Gasdermin-E mediates mitochondrial damage in axons and neurodegeneration.

Mitochondrial dysfunction and axon loss are hallmarks of neurologic diseases. Gasdermin (GSDM) proteins are executioner pore-forming molecules that mediate cell death, yet their roles in the central nervous system (CNS) are not well understood. Here, we find that one GSDM family member, GSDME, is expressed by both mouse and human neurons.

Astrocyte plasticity in mice ensures continued endfoot coverage of cerebral blood vessels following injury and declines with age.

Astrocytes extend endfeet that enwrap the vasculature, and disruptions to this association which may occur in disease coincide with breaches in blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity. Here we investigate if focal ablation of astrocytes is sufficient to disrupt the BBB in mice. Targeted two-photon chemical apoptotic ablation of astrocytes induced a plasticity response whereby surrounding astrocytes extended processes to cover vascular vacancies.