Astrocytes restore connectivity and synchronization in dysfunctional cerebellar networks

Significance Within the long-standing debate of whether glial cells contribute to neuronal circuits, we provide evidence of the impact of astrocytes on the physiopathology and the structural–functional organization of cerebellar neuronal circuits derived from Atm-deficient mice. In vitro and adult mouse characterizations show how disrupted astrocyte morphology is associated with an increased presence of synaptic markers in Atm −/− compared with wild-type circuits, also related to reduce autophagy. Our study is corroborated by an in vitro demonstration of how replenishment of neuronal circuits with healthy astrocytes can restore Atm −/− neuronal circuits’ dynamics.