title: Astrocytes from adult Wistar rats aged in vitro show changes in glial functions.
abstract: Astrocytes, the most versatile cells of the central nervous system, play an important role in the regulation of neurotransmitter homeostasis, energy metabolism, antioxidant defenses and the anti-inflammatory response. Recently, our group characterized cortical astrocyte cultures from adult Wistar rats. In line with that work, we studied glial function using an experimental in vitro model of aging astrocytes (30 days in vitro after reaching confluence) from newborn (NB), adult (AD) and aged (AG) Wistar rats. We evaluated metabolic parameters, such as the glucose uptake, glutamine synthetase (GS) activity, and glutathione (GSH) content, as well as the GFAP, GLUT-1 and xCT expression. AD and AG astrocytes take up less glucose than NB astrocytes and had decreased GLUT1 expression levels. Furthermore, AD and AG astrocytes exhibited decreased GS activity compared to NB cells. Simultaneously, AD and AG astrocytes showed an increase in GSH levels, along with an increase in xCT expression. NB, AD and AG astrocytes presented similar morphology; however, differences in GFAP levels were observed. Taken together, these results improve the knowledge of cerebral senescence and represent an innovative tool for brain studies of aging.
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry Department, Basic Health Sciences Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Electronic address: debsrs@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Débora Guerini
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry Department, Basic Health Sciences Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bruna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bellaver
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry Department, Basic Health Sciences Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gustavo Santos
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Raupp
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry Department, Basic Health Sciences Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Diogo Onofre
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry Department, Basic Health Sciences Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quincozes-Santos
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000166:cytology*; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D018698:Glutamic Acid
keywords: Adult astrocytes; Astrocytes aged in vitro; Brain aging; Glucose uptake; Glutamine synthetase activity; Glutathione