Wilson Jennifer M, Hartley Robert, Maxwell David J, Todd Andrew J, Lieberam Ivo, Kaltschmidt Julia A, Yoshida Yutaka, Jessell Thomas M, Brownstone Robert M
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 1X5, Canada.
J Neurosci. 2005 Jun 15;25(24):5710-9. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0274-05.2005.
The properties of mammalian spinal interneurons that underlie rhythmic locomotor networks remain poorly described. Using postnatal transgenic mice in which expression of green fluorescent protein is driven by the promoter for the homeodomain transcription factor Hb9, as well as Hb9-lacZ knock-in mice, we describe a novel population of glutamatergic interneurons located adjacent to the ventral commissure from cervical to midlumbar spinal cord levels. Hb9+ interneurons exhibit strong postinhibitory rebound and demonstrate pronounced membrane potential oscillations in response to chemical stimuli that induce locomotor activity. These data provide a molecular and physiological delineation of a small population of ventral spinal interneurons that exhibit homogeneous electrophysiological features, the properties of which suggest that they are candidate locomotor rhythm-generating interneurons.
构成节律性运动网络基础的哺乳动物脊髓中间神经元的特性仍未得到充分描述。利用出生后的转基因小鼠（其中绿色荧光蛋白的表达由同源结构域转录因子Hb9的启动子驱动）以及Hb9-lacZ基因敲入小鼠，我们描述了一类新的谷氨酸能中间神经元群体，它们位于从颈髓到腰髓中部脊髓节段的腹侧连合附近。Hb9+中间神经元表现出强烈的抑制后反弹，并在对诱导运动活动的化学刺激作出反应时表现出明显的膜电位振荡。这些数据对一小群腹侧脊髓中间神经元进行了分子和生理学上的描绘，这些中间神经元表现出均匀的电生理特征，其特性表明它们是产生运动节律的候选中间神经元。
