Cellular response of activated astrocytes to the electrical stimulation

Abstract

When a traumatic brain injury occurs, astrocytes become activated to increase the cell size and proliferation rate to fill the damaged space and regulate the immune and nerve functions of the microenvironment. In the previous in vivo study, the stemness was increased in astrocytes after applying electrical stimulation to mice subjected to brain injury, suggesting the possibility of direct damage recovery when electrical stimulation is applied to activated astrocytes. In this study, an in vitro disease model was established using astrocytes activated by external stimulation, and the cellular responses of astrocytes to electrical stimulation were investigated. It was confirmed that astrocytes could be activated in a highly stiff culture environment to mimic diseased tissues in the body. After applying electrical stimulation to astrocytes cultured in a rigid dish, the expression of biomarkers for stemness in astrocytes increased, and the markers for activation of astrocytes decreased. Also, both cell area and circularity of astrocytes showed a tendency to decrease after the electrical stimulation. By analyzing the morphology of the astrocytes after the inhibition of calcineurin and the electrical stimulation, it was confirmed that calcineurin is involved in astrocytes' response to the electrical stimulation. In this study, the response and mechanism of astrocytes to electrical stimulation were analyzed, and it is expected that it will help future brain damage recovery studies.