Fig. 4

CA1 astrocyte Gi activation interrupts the middle stage of memory schema development by impairing CA1-ACC neurons’ interaction (c-Fos expression). A Schematic of the experimental protocol. B Performance index of Cohort 1 rats during the learning of OPA and NPA in hM4Di_CNO and hM4Di_Saline groups (n=6 each). CNO or saline was intraperitoneally injected during session 10 to session 14. C Nonrewarded cued-recall probe tests (PT1–4) of Cohort 1 rats for the acquisition of OPAs across sessions 2, 9, 15, and 28 in hM4Di_CNO and hM4Di_Saline groups (n=6 each). The graph represents the percentage of dig time at the cued location (light color bars) relative to that of the non-cued locations (dark color bars). D Memory recall in PT5 of Cohort 1 rats for the NPA (light color bar) in hM4Di_CNO and hM4Di_Saline groups (n=6 each). E Representative images of hM4Di in astrocytes (red), EYFP in ACC projecting CA1 neurons (green) and c-Fos (magenta) in the CA1 of Saline-injected Cohort 2 rats (E) or CNO-injected Cohort 2 rats in session 10 (F); white neurons that arrows point to are overlap of EYFP and c-Fos; scale bar, 20 µm. G Representative images of c-Fos (red) in ACC of saline-injected Cohort 3 rats in session 10 (G) or CNO-injected Cohort 1 rats in session 10 (H); scale bar, 100 µm. I Comparison of c-Fos expression level in CA1 between hM4Di_CNO and hM4Di_Saline groups of Cohort 2 rats in session 10 (n=6 each). J comparison of the percent of CA1 cells projecting into the ACC that express c-Fos between hM4Di_CNO and hM4Di_Saline groups of Cohort 2 rats in session 10 (n=6 each). K Comparison of c-Fos expression level in ACC between hM4Di_CNO and hM4Di_Saline groups of Cohort 3 rats (n=6 each) in session 10. Data are presented as the mean ± SEM, *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001, ns p>0.05