# Molecular identity, cellular physiology, and in vivo functions of nucleus accumbens astrocytes

> **NIH NIH F32** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2021 · $70,610

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
 Astrocytes are pervasive throughout the CNS and are the most abundant non-neuronal cell type. They
are an essential component of neural circuits, and increasing evidence demonstrates they are specialized for
specific brain regions. For example, proteomic, transcriptomic, and electrophysiology experiments show that
hippocampal and striatal astrocytes are distinct. However, it is unknown if astrocytes are heterogeneous within
brain regions such as the striatum where neuronal subtypes are largely uniform. Thus, the dorsal lateral striatum
(DLS) and the nucleus accumbens (NAc) receive different afferents, extend different efferents, and encode
different behaviors, and yet there is no basic understanding of astrocyte heterogeneity within striatal areas. My
pilot data demonstrate that NAc astrocytes have different morphologies compared to DLS astrocytes, and single-
cell sequencing molecularly identified 5 astrocyte subtypes in the striatum. In Aim 1, I will extend these findings
and use spatial transcriptomics and RNAscope to identify the location of each striatal astrocyte subtype. This
unbiased approach will determine if astrocyte subtypes are localized to subregions of the striatum. Ventral striatal
astrocytes are also functionally distinct from dorsal striatal astrocytes, as NAc astrocytes have a significantly
stronger intracellular Ca2+ signaling response to dopamine than do dorsal astrocytes. Dopamine (DA) in the NAc
is critical for reward-learning such as Pavlovian conditioning. In Aim 2, I will therefore determine if the distinct
NAc Ca2+ responses are functionally relevant to DA-encoded Pavlovian stimulus-reward learning. Together, this
project proposes a comprehensive investigation of striatal astrocyte heterogeneity (Aim 1 – Priority Area #1),
which is essential for forming mechanistic hypotheses and determining causality of NAc astrocyte Ca2+ signaling
in DA-encoded reward learning (Aim 2 – Priority Area #4).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10316907
- **Project number:** 1F32MH125598-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Kay Elizabeth Linker
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $70,610
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10316907

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10316907, Molecular identity, cellular physiology, and in vivo functions of nucleus accumbens astrocytes (1F32MH125598-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10316907. Licensed CC0.

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