Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.
Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2024 Mar 15;156:219-227. doi: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2023.07.008. Epub 2023 Aug 1.
The vagus nerve, with its myriad constituent axon branches and innervation targets, has long been a model of anatomical complexity in the nervous system. The branched architecture of the vagus nerve is now appreciated to be highly organized around the topographic and/or molecular identities of the neurons that innervate each target tissue. However, we are only just beginning to understand the developmental mechanisms by which heterogeneous vagus neuron identity is specified, patterned, and used to guide the axons of particular neurons to particular targets. Here, we summarize our current understanding of the complex topographic and molecular organization of the vagus nerve, the developmental basis of neuron specification and patterned axon guidance that supports this organization, and the regenerative mechanisms that promote, or inhibit, the restoration of vagus nerve organization after nerve damage. Finally, we highlight key unanswered questions in these areas and discuss potential strategies to address these questions.
迷走神经及其无数的轴突分支和神经支配靶标长期以来一直是神经系统解剖复杂性的典范。迷走神经的分支结构现在被认为是高度围绕支配每个靶组织的神经元的拓扑和/或分子特征组织的。然而，我们才刚刚开始了解特定神经元的轴突到特定靶标的异质迷走神经元特性指定、模式化和使用的发育机制。在这里，我们总结了我们对迷走神经复杂的拓扑和分子组织、支持这种组织的神经元特性指定和模式化轴突导向的发育基础以及促进或抑制神经损伤后迷走神经组织恢复的再生机制的现有理解。最后，我们强调了这些领域中未解决的关键问题，并讨论了解决这些问题的潜在策略。
