Astrocyte-like CEPsh glia respond to stress

While astrocytes are known to be important for development and nourishment of the nervous system, the field is just beginning to explore how astrocytes respond to environmental stimuli. Using Caenorhabditis elegans and their astrocyte-equivalent, CEPsh, we asked whether astrocyte-like glia respond to odor exposure. We found one day-old adult C. elegans decrease hlh-17 promoter (CEPsh glia marker) mediated fluorescent expression when trained with an innately attractive odor butanone. Moreover, the olfactory training paradigm itself affects phlh-17 expression, but in a different way. This suggests astrocyte-like CEPsh glia can integrate environmental information to respond to changes in the environment, which enhances survival.