Glycogen stress granules cause astrocytic mitochondrial dysfunction to aggravate ischemic damage and delay recovery after stroke

Ischemic stroke induces pathological glycogen deposition in astrocytes, but its role in post-injury neural dysfunction remains undefined. We reveal that glycogen-laden astrocytes in the ischemic penumbra undergo HDAC3-dependent mitochondrial fragmentation via a stress granule-mediated mechanism, exacerbating neuronal injury and hindering functional recovery. Mechanistic studies demonstrate that glycogen aggregates sequester cytoplasmic HDAC3, enabling its translocation to mitochondria. There, HDAC3 deacetylates outer mitochondrial membrane protein ATAD3A, promoting oligomerization-driven mitochondrial fission. Astrocyte-specific ATAD3A ablation prevents stroke-induced synaptic disorganization, neural circuit disruption, and cognitive deficits. Therapeutically, combined administration of cotadutide (a glycogen-depleting GLP-1/GCGR agonist) and HDAC3 inhibitor RGFP966 reverses glycogen accumulation, rescues mitochondrial architecture/function, and restores synaptic plasticity and circuit reorganization, thereby accelerating sensorimotor recovery. Our work identifies glycogen stress granules as pathogenic signaling hubs linking astrocytic metabolic stress to mitochondrial failure through compartmentalized HDAC3-ATAD3A crosstalk, and proposes a dual-target paradigm addressing both substrate overload and protein acetylation dynamics for stroke neurorestoration. Overall design: Freshly dissociated single-cell suspensions were loaded to 10X Genome GenCode Single-cell instrument to generate GEMs (Gel Bead-In-EMlusion). ScRNA-seq libraries were subsequently prepared following the manufacturer's protocol of Chromium Next GEM Single Cell 3' Regent Kits v3.1. Libraries were then sequenced using the Novaseq 6000 platform with paired-end sequencing (PE150) mode.