Astrocytes, the most abundant glial cell type in the brain, have been found to release signaling molecules, including Adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the most important energy carrier inside the cell as well as a universal extracellular signaling molecule.
Although researchers have discovered that the molecule mediates inter-astrocytic and neuronal-astrocytic interactions, the mechanisms of ATP release in glial cells are unknown.
Led by Dr. DUAN Shumin, a research team from the Laboratory of Synapse Development and Plasticity under the CAS Institute of Neuroscience has revealed that lysosomes in astrocytes contain abundant ATP and exhibit different modes of exocytosis in response to physiological and pathological stimulations. Lysosomes have been regarded as "digestion organelles" of the cell for degrading "waste proteins." This present finding indicates that regulated lysosomal exocytosis of ATP from astrocytes may have important physiological functions. This work was published online on 8 July in
Nature Cell Biology,
