Changes in Nicotinic Neurotransmission during Enteric Nervous System Development

Jaime Pei Pei Foong; Caroline S Hirst; Marlene M Hao; Sonja J McKeown; Werend Boesmans; Heather M Young; Joel C Bornstein; Pieter Vanden Berghe

Journal article

Changes in Nicotinic Neurotransmission during Enteric Nervous System Development

Jaime Pei Pei Foong, Caroline S Hirst, Marlene M Hao, Sonja J McKeown, Werend Boesmans, Heather M Young, Joel C Bornstein, Pieter Vanden Berghe

JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE | SOC NEUROSCIENCE | Published : 2015

DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4175-14.2015

Abstract

Acetylcholine-activating pentameric nicotinic receptors (nAChRs) are an essential mode of neurotransmission in the enteric nervous system (ENS). In this study, we examined the functional development of specific nAChR subtypes in myenteric neurons using Wnt1-Cre;R26R-GCaMP3 mice, where all enteric neurons and glia express the genetically encoded calcium indicator, GCaMP3. Transcripts encoding α3, α4, α7, β2, and β4 nAChR subunits were already expressed at low levels in the E11.5 gut and by E14.5 and, thereafter, α3 and β4 transcripts were the most abundant. The effect of specific nAChR subtype antagonists on evoked calcium activity in enteric neurons was investigated at different ages. Blocka..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Jaime Foong Author Anatomy and Physiology

Heather Young Author Anatomy and Physiology

Marlene Hao Author Anatomy and Physiology

Joel Bornstein Author Anatomy and Physiology

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Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council

Awarded by FWO

Awarded by KU Leuven

Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant DP130101596 (to J.C.B., H.M.Y., and P.V.B.) and FWO (G.501.10) and KU Leuven 1/10/046 (to P.V.B.). M.H.H. and W.B. are postdoctoral fellows of the FWO. We thank Hideki Enomoto for the Eanrb<SUP>KikGR</SUP> mice; Vassilis Pachnis for the Wnt1-Cre mice; Vanda Lennon and Piers Emson for antisera; and Annette Bergner, Franca Casagranda, and the members of LENS for their technical assistance and helpful advice.