Ji Yuan-Yuan, Liu Xin, Li Xin, Xiao Yi-Fan, Ma Teng, Wang Jian, Feng Yue, Shi Juan, Wang Mei-Qing, Li Jin-Lian, Lai Jiang-Hua
College of Forensic Science, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Northwest University, Xi'an, China.
Front Cell Neurosci. 2022 Dec 20;16:995345. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2022.995345. eCollection 2022.
Occlusal disharmony has a negative impact on emotion. The mesencephalic trigeminal nucleus (Vme) neurons are the primary afferent nuclei that convey proprioceptive information from proprioceptors and low-threshold mechanoreceptors in the periodontal ligament and jaw muscles in the cranio-oro-facial regions. The dorsomedial part of the principal sensory trigeminal nucleus (Vpdm) and the ventral posteromedial nucleus (VPM) of thalamus have been proven to be crucial relay stations in ascending pathway of proprioception. The VPM sends numerous projections to primary somatosensory areas (SI), which modulate emotion processing. The present study aimed to demonstrate the ascending trigeminal-thalamic-cortex pathway which would mediate malocclusion-induced negative emotion. Unilateral anterior crossbite (UAC) model created by disturbing the dental occlusion was applied. Tract-tracing techniques were used to identify the existence of Vme-Vpdm-VPM pathway and Vpdm-VPM-SI pathway. Chemogenetic and optogenetic methods were taken to modulate the activation of Vpdm neurons and the Vpdm-VPM pathway. Morphological evidence indicated the involvement of the Vme-Vpdm-VPM pathway, Vpdm-VPM-SI pathway and Vpdm-VPM pathway in orofacial proprioception in wild-type mice and vesicular glutamate transporter 1 (): tdTomato mice, respectively. Furthermore, chemogenetic inhibition of Vpdm neurons and the Vpdm-VPM pathway alleviated anxiety-like behaviors in a unilateral anterior crossbite (UAC) model, whereas chemogenetic activation induced anxiety-like behaviors in controls and did not aggravate these behaviors in UAC mice. Finally, optogenetic inhibition of the Vpdm-VPM pathway in VGLUT1-IRES-Cre mice reversed UAC-induced anxiety comorbidity. In conclusion, these results suggest that the Vpdm-VPM neural pathway participates in the modulation of malocclusion-induced anxiety comorbidity. These findings provide new insights into the links between occlusion and emotion and deepen our understanding of the impact of occlusal disharmony on brain dysfunction.
咬合失调对情绪有负面影响。中脑三叉神经核(Vme)神经元是主要的传入核,可传递来自颅颌面区域牙周韧带和颌骨肌肉中本体感受器和低阈值机械感受器的本体感觉信息。三叉神经主感觉核的背内侧部分(Vpdm)和丘脑腹后内侧核(VPM)已被证明是本体感觉上行通路中的关键中继站。VPM向初级体感区(SI)发送大量投射,调节情绪处理。本研究旨在证明介导错牙合诱导的负面情绪的三叉丘脑皮质上行通路。应用通过干扰牙合关系创建的单侧前牙反牙合(UAC)模型。采用示踪技术确定Vme-Vpdm-VPM通路和Vpdm-VPM-SI通路的存在。采用化学遗传学和光遗传学方法调节Vpdm神经元和Vpdm-VPM通路的激活。形态学证据表明,Vme-Vpdm-VPM通路、Vpdm-VPM-SI通路和Vpdm-VPM通路分别参与野生型小鼠和囊泡谷氨酸转运体1(VGLUT1):tdTomato小鼠的口面部本体感觉。此外,化学遗传学抑制Vpdm神经元和Vpdm-VPM通路可减轻单侧前牙反牙合(UAC)模型中的焦虑样行为,而化学遗传学激活在对照组中诱导焦虑样行为,在UAC小鼠中并未加重这些行为。最后,对VGLUT1-IRES-Cre小鼠的Vpdm-VPM通路进行光遗传学抑制可逆转UAC诱导的焦虑共病。总之,这些结果表明Vpdm-VPM神经通路参与了错牙合诱导的焦虑共病的调节。这些发现为咬合与情绪之间的联系提供了新的见解,并加深了我们对错牙合失调对脑功能障碍影响的理解。