Astroglial dysfunctions drive aberrant synaptogenesis and social behavioral deficits in mice with neonatal exposure to lengthy general anesthesia

PLoS Biol. 2019 Aug 21;17(8):e3000086. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000086. eCollection 2019 Aug.

Abstract

Lengthy use of general anesthetics (GAs) causes neurobehavioral deficits in the developing brain, which has raised significant clinical concerns such that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning on the use of GAs in children younger than 3 years. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms for GAs-induced neurotoxicity remain largely unknown. Here, we report that sevoflurane (Sevo), a commonly used GA in pediatrics, caused compromised astrocyte morphogenesis spatiotemporally correlated to synaptic overgrowth, with reduced synaptic function in developing cortex in a regional-, exposure-length-, and age-specific manner. Sevo disrupted astrocyte Ca2+ homeostasis both acutely and chronically, which led to the down-regulation of Ezrin, an actin-binding membrane-bound protein, which we found was critically involved in astrocyte morphogenesis in vivo. Importantly, overexpression of astrocyte Ezrin rescued astrocytic and neuronal dysfunctions and fully corrected deficits in social behaviors in developing mice with lengthy Sevo exposure. Our data uncover that, in addition to neurons, astrocytes may represent important targets for GAs to exert toxic effects and that astrocyte morphological integrity is crucial for synaptogenesis and neurological behaviors.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anesthesia, General / adverse effects
  • Anesthetics, Inhalation / adverse effects
  • Animals
  • Animals, Newborn
  • Astrocytes / drug effects*
  • Behavior, Animal
  • Brain / drug effects
  • Brain / embryology
  • Cytoskeletal Proteins / metabolism
  • Female
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Neurogenesis / drug effects
  • Neurons / drug effects
  • Pregnancy
  • Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / metabolism
  • Sevoflurane / adverse effects*
  • Social Behavior
  • Synapses / drug effects*

Substances

  • Anesthetics, Inhalation
  • Cytoskeletal Proteins
  • ezrin
  • Sevoflurane

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (http://www.nsfc.gov.cn/), grant 31600832, to RJ. The work was also supported by West China Hospital, Sichuan University (http://www.cd120.com/), grant entitled 1.3.5 Project for Disciplines of Excellence (ZY2016101), to JL. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.