Solomon Irene C
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Basic Science Tower, Health Science Center, Level 6, Rm. 140, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8661, USA.
Respir Physiol Neurobiol. 2003 Dec 16;139(1):1-20. doi: 10.1016/j.resp.2003.09.004.
Recent work from our laboratory has demonstrated that the gap junction proteins connexin26 (Cx26) and connexin32 (Cx32) are expressed in neurons in putative CO2-chemosensitive brainstem regions in both neonatal and adult rats. Whether the recently identified neuron-specific gap junction protein connexin36 (Cx36) is also present in these brainstem regions remains to be determined. Therefore, in the current experiments, immunoblot and immunohistochemical protocols were used to investigate the regional distribution and cellular localization of Cx36 in putative CO2-chemosensitive brainstem regions in both neonatal and adult rats. Immunoblot analyses revealed Cx36 expression in putative CO2-chemosensitive brainstem regions in each of the age groups examined, although both regional and developmental differences in the relative expression levels were detected. Immunohistochemical analyses confirmed Cx36 expression in neurons in each of the putative CO2-chemosensitive brainstem regions and revealed both somal and dendritic labeling patterns. These findings provide additional morphological evidence supporting the potential for gap junctional communication in these regions in both neonatal and adult rats. We propose that the gap junction protein Cx36 also contributes to the neuroanatomical substrate for gap junctional communication, which is hypothesized to play a role in central CO2 chemoreception.
我们实验室最近的研究表明，缝隙连接蛋白连接蛋白26（Cx26）和连接蛋白32（Cx32）在新生和成年大鼠假定的二氧化碳化学敏感脑干区域的神经元中均有表达。最近鉴定出的神经元特异性缝隙连接蛋白连接蛋白36（Cx36）是否也存在于这些脑干区域仍有待确定。因此，在当前实验中，采用免疫印迹和免疫组织化学方法研究了Cx36在新生和成年大鼠假定二氧化碳化学敏感脑干区域的区域分布和细胞定位。免疫印迹分析显示，在所检查的每个年龄组的假定二氧化碳化学敏感脑干区域中均有Cx36表达，尽管检测到相对表达水平存在区域差异和发育差异。免疫组织化学分析证实，在每个假定的二氧化碳化学敏感脑干区域的神经元中均有Cx36表达，并揭示了胞体和树突状标记模式。这些发现提供了额外的形态学证据，支持新生和成年大鼠这些区域缝隙连接通讯的可能性。我们提出，缝隙连接蛋白Cx36也有助于缝隙连接通讯的神经解剖学基质形成，据推测其在中枢二氧化碳化学感受中发挥作用。
