A Novel Subtype of Astrocytes Expressing TRPV4 (Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 4) Regulates Neuronal Excitability via Release of Gliotransmitters*

Background: The functional differences among astrocyte subtypes are uncharacterized. Results: Only a subset of astrocytes expresses TRPV4 and regulates neurons. Conclusion: TRPV4+ astrocytes release ATP and glutamate to regulate neurons. Significance: Astrocytes can be classified by TRPV4 expression and by function. Astrocytes play active roles in the regulation of synaptic transmission. Neuronal excitation can evoke Ca2+ transients in astrocytes, and these Ca2+ transients can modulate neuronal excitability. Although only a subset of astrocytes appears to communicate with neurons, the types of astrocytes that can regulate neuronal excitability are poorly characterized. We found that ∼30% of astrocytes in the brain express transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4), indicating that astrocytic subtypes can be classified on the basis of their expression patterns. When TRPV4+ astrocytes are activated by ligands such as arachidonic acid, the activation propagates to neighboring astrocytes through gap junctions and by ATP release from the TRPV4+ astrocytes. After activation, both TRPV4+ and TRPV4− astrocytes release glutamate, which acts as an excitatory gliotransmitter to increase synaptic transmission through type 1 metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR). Our results indicate that TRPV4+ astrocytes constitute a novel subtype of the population and are solely responsible for initiating excitatory gliotransmitter release to enhance synaptic transmission. We propose that TRPV4+ astrocytes form a core of excitatory glial assembly in the brain and function to efficiently increase neuronal excitation in response to endogenous TRPV4 ligands.