Scientists find brain cell switch that could reverse obesity’s effects
- Date:
- August 8, 2025
- Source:
- CNRS
- Summary:
- High-fat diets and obesity reshape astrocytes—star-shaped brain cells in the striatum that help regulate pleasure from eating. French researchers discovered that tweaking these cells in mice not only impacts metabolism but can also restore cognitive abilities impaired by obesity, such as relearning tasks. This breakthrough highlights astrocytes as powerful players in brain function and energy control, opening fresh possibilities for targeted obesity treatments.
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Fatty diets and obesity affect the structure and function of astrocytes1, the star-shaped brain cells located in the striatum, a brain region involved in the perception of pleasure generated by food consumption. What is even more surprising is that by manipulating these astrocytes in vivo in mice can influence metabolism and correct certain cognitive changes associated with obesity (ability to relearn a task, for example). These results, described by scientists from the CNRS2 and the Université Paris Cité, were recently published in the journal Nature Communication.
These discoveries reinforce the idea that astrocytes (long neglected in favour of neurons) play a key role in brain function. They also demonstrate, for the first time, the ability of astrocytes to restore cognitive function in the context of obesity, opening up new avenues of research to identify their exact role in energy metabolism.
These conclusions were reached using a combination of ex vivo and in vivo approaches in rodents, including chemogenetic techniques3, brain imaging, locomotion tests, cognitive behaviour and measuring the body's energy metabolism.
Notes
- Unlike neurons, astrocytes (nervous system cells) do not generate electrical activity, which has made them less easy to study in the past. However, thanks to improvements in observation techniques, we now know that their close cooperation with neurons is essential to the proper functioning of the nervous system.
- Reporting to l'Unité de biologie fonctionnelle et adaptative (CNRS/Université Paris Cité). Scientists from l'Institut de biologie Paris-Seine (CNRS/Inserm/Sorbonne Université) were also involved.
- Calcium is an essential chemical element for astrocyte function, enabling synaptic activity to be modulated. The chemogenetic technique employed was based on the use of a virus, to express, in a targeted manner in the astrocytes, a protein that could modulate calcium flow in the cell, rather like a switch. The scientists were thus able to study the effect of these calcium flows on the activity of the astrocytes and surrounding neurons.
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Materials provided by CNRS. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
- Enrica Montalban, Anthony Ansoult, Daniela Herrera Moro Chao, Cuong Pham, Clara Franco, Andrea Contini, Julien Castel, Rim Hassouna, Marene H. Hardonk, Anna Petitbon, Ewout Foppen, Giuseppe Gangarossa, Pierre Trifilieff, Dongdong Li, Serge Luquet, Claire Martin. Striatal astrocytes modulate behavioral flexibility and whole-body metabolism in mice. Nature Communications, 2025; 16 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60968-y
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