Ritter K Elaine, Southard-Smith E Michelle
Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Nashville, TN, USA.
Front Neurosci. 2017 Jan 6;10:592. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2016.00592. eCollection 2016.
Sensory afferent signaling is required for normal function of the lower urinary tract (LUT). Despite the wide prevalence of bladder dysfunction and pelvic pain syndromes, few effective treatment options are available. Serotonin receptor 5-HT3A is a known mediator of visceral afferent signaling and has been implicated in bladder function. However, basic expression patterns for this gene and others among developing bladder sensory afferents that could be used to inform regenerative efforts aimed at treating deficiencies in pelvic innervation are lacking. To gain greater insight into the molecular characteristics of bladder sensory innervation, we conducted a thorough characterization of expression in developing and adult bladder-projecting lumbosacral dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons. Using a transgenic -EGFP reporter mouse line, we identified 5-HT3A expression at 10 days post coitus (dpc) in neural crest derivatives and in 12 dpc lumbosacral DRG. Using immunohistochemical co-localization we observed -EGFP expression in developing lumbosacral DRG that partially coincides with neuropeptides CGRP and Substance P and capsaicin receptor TRPV1. A majority of + DRG neurons also express a marker of myelinated Aδ neurons, NF200. There was no co-localization of 5-HT3A with the TRPV4 receptor. We employed retrograde tracing in adult -EGFP mice to quantify the contribution of 5-HT3A+ DRG neurons to bladder afferent innervation. We found that 5-HT3A is expressed in a substantial proportion of retrograde traced DRG neurons in both rostral (L1, L2) and caudal (L6, S1) axial levels that supply bladder innervation. Most bladder-projecting + neurons that co-express CGRP, Substance P, or TRPV1 are found in L1, L2 DRG, whereas -EGFP+, NF200+ bladder-projecting neurons are from the L6, S1 axial levels. Our findings contribute much needed information regarding the development of LUT innervation and highlight the 5-HT3A serotonin receptor as a candidate for future studies of neurally mediated bladder control.
感觉传入信号对于下尿路(LUT)的正常功能是必需的。尽管膀胱功能障碍和盆腔疼痛综合征广泛存在,但有效的治疗选择却很少。血清素受体5-HT3A是已知的内脏传入信号介质,并与膀胱功能有关。然而,该基因以及其他在发育中的膀胱感觉传入神经中可能用于指导旨在治疗盆腔神经支配缺陷的再生努力的基因的基本表达模式尚不清楚。为了更深入地了解膀胱感觉神经支配的分子特征,我们对发育中和成年期投射到膀胱的腰骶背根神经节(DRG)神经元中的表达进行了全面表征。使用转基因-EGFP报告小鼠系,我们在交配后10天(dpc)的神经嵴衍生物和12 dpc的腰骶DRG中鉴定出5-HT3A表达。通过免疫组织化学共定位,我们观察到在发育中的腰骶DRG中-EGFP表达与神经肽降钙素基因相关肽(CGRP)、P物质和辣椒素受体TRPV1部分重合。大多数+ DRG神经元也表达有髓鞘Aδ神经元的标志物神经丝蛋白200(NF200)。5-HT3A与TRPV4受体没有共定位。我们在成年-EGFP小鼠中采用逆行追踪来量化5-HT3A+ DRG神经元对膀胱传入神经支配的贡献。我们发现5-HT3A在供应膀胱神经支配的头端(L1、L2)和尾端(L6、S1)轴向水平的大量逆行追踪DRG神经元中表达。大多数共同表达CGRP、P物质或TRPV1的投射到膀胱的+神经元位于L1、L2 DRG中,而-EGFP+、NF200+投射到膀胱的神经元来自L6、S1轴向水平。我们的研究结果为下尿路神经支配发育提供了急需的信息,并突出了5-HT3A血清素受体作为未来神经介导的膀胱控制研究的候选对象。