[HTML][HTML] Direct neuronal glucose uptake heralds activity-dependent increases in cerebral metabolism

I Lundgaard, B Li, L Xie, H Kang, S Sanggaard… - Nature …, 2015 - nature.com
I Lundgaard, B Li, L Xie, H Kang, S Sanggaard, JDR Haswell, W Sun, S Goldman, S Blekot…
Nature communications, 2015nature.com
Metabolically, the brain is a highly active organ that relies almost exclusively on glucose as
its energy source. According to the astrocyte-to-neuron lactate shuttle hypothesis, glucose is
taken up by astrocytes and converted to lactate, which is then oxidized by neurons. Here we
show, using two-photon imaging of a near-infrared 2-deoxyglucose analogue (2DG-IR), that
glucose is taken up preferentially by neurons in awake behaving mice. Anaesthesia
suppressed neuronal 2DG-IR uptake and sensory stimulation was associated with a sharp …
Abstract
Metabolically, the brain is a highly active organ that relies almost exclusively on glucose as its energy source. According to the astrocyte-to-neuron lactate shuttle hypothesis, glucose is taken up by astrocytes and converted to lactate, which is then oxidized by neurons. Here we show, using two-photon imaging of a near-infrared 2-deoxyglucose analogue (2DG-IR), that glucose is taken up preferentially by neurons in awake behaving mice. Anaesthesia suppressed neuronal 2DG-IR uptake and sensory stimulation was associated with a sharp increase in neuronal, but not astrocytic, 2DG-IR uptake. Moreover, hexokinase, which catalyses the first enzymatic steps in glycolysis, was highly enriched in neurons compared with astrocytes, in mouse as well as in human cortex. These observations suggest that brain activity and neuronal glucose metabolism are directly linked, and identiy the neuron as the principal locus of glucose uptake as visualized by functional brain imaging.
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