Journal article
Early emergence of neural activity in the developing mouse enteric nervous system
MM Hao, W Boesmans, V van den Abbeel, EA Jennings, JC Bornstein, HM Young, PV Berghe
Journal of Neuroscience | Published : 2011
Abstract
Neurons of the enteric nervous system (ENS) arise from neural crest cells that migrate into and along the developing gastrointestinal tract. A subpopulation of these neural-crest derived cells express pan-neuronal markers early in development, shortly after they first enter the gut. However, it is unknown whether these early enteric "neurons" are electrically active. In this study we used live Ca 2+imaging to examine the activity of enteric neurons from mice at embryonic day 11.5 (E11.5), E12.5, E15.5, and E18.5 that were dissociated and cultured overnight. PGP9.5-immunoreactive neurons from E11.5 gut cultures responded to electrical field stimulation with fast [Ca 2+] i transients that were..
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Awarded by Research Foundation Flanders (Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek; FWO)
Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Research Foundation Flanders (Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek; FWO) Grant G.0501.10 (P.V.B.) and Australian Research Council Discovery Grant DP0878755 (H.M.Y., J.B.C.). M.M.H received a PORES (Postgraduate Overseas Research Experience) scholarship from the University of Melbourne. W.B. is a post-doctoral fellow of the FWO. We thank Vassilis Pachnis (National Institute for Medical Research, London, UK) for use of the Wnt-1-CRE/YFP mice, and the members of LENS (Laboratory For Enteric NeuroScience) for their discussions and expert help in preparing experiments.