Department of Physiology, Showa University School of Medicine, 1-5-8 Hatanodai, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 142-8555, Japan.
Department of Oral Physiology, Showa University School of Dentistry, 1-5-8 Hatanodai, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 142-8555, Japan.
Brain Res Bull. 2018 May;139:16-20. doi: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2018.01.013. Epub 2018 Jan 31.
The parafacial respiratory group (pFRG) surrounding the ventrolateral part of the facial motor nucleus is one of respiratory rhythm generators that consists of pre-inspiratory (Pre-I) neurons. Previous studies showed that most of the Pre-I neurons locating in the Phox2b cluster of the rostral ventral medulla were also Phox2b positive and intrinsically CO sensitive. However, it is not clear what percentage of Phox2b-expressing cells in the pFRG of the ventral medulla are Pre-I neurons. To address this issue, we analyzed the activity of Phox2b-positive cells by calcium imaging using a confocal laser microscope in transgenic rats in which Phox2b-positive cells expressed EYFP. We found that more than 60% of the EYFP/Phox2b-positive cells showed Pre-I neuron-like rhythmic burst activity in the parafacial region of newborn rat.
面神经运动核腹外侧周围的副面神经呼吸群（pFRG）是呼吸节律发生器之一，由预吸气（Pre-I）神经元组成。先前的研究表明，位于延髓腹侧前部的 Phox2b 簇中的大多数 Pre-I 神经元也是 Phox2b 阳性且内在地对 CO 敏感的。然而，尚不清楚腹侧 medulla 的 pFRG 中表达 Phox2b 的细胞中有多少百分比是 Pre-I 神经元。为了解决这个问题，我们使用共聚焦激光显微镜通过钙成像分析了转基因大鼠中 Phox2b 阳性细胞的活性，在这些大鼠中，Phox2b 阳性细胞表达 EYFP。我们发现，新生大鼠副面区有超过 60%的 EYFP/Phox2b 阳性细胞表现出 Pre-I 神经元样节律性爆发活动。
