| |||
C1 Neurons (c1 + neuron)
Selected AbstractsC1 neurons in the rat rostral ventrolateral medulla differentially express vesicular monoamine transporter 2 in soma and axonal compartmentsEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 8 2008C. P. Sevigny Abstract Vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) packages biogenic amines into large dense core and synaptic vesicles for either somatodendritic or synaptic release from neurons of the CNS. Whilst the distribution of VMAT2 has been well characterized in many catecholaminergic cell groups, its localization amongst C1 adrenergic neurons in the medulla has not been examined in detail. Within the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM), C1 neurons are a group of barosensitive, adrenergic neurons. Rostral C1 cells project to the thoracic spinal cord and are considered sympathetic premotor neurons. The majority of caudal C1 cells project rostrally to regions such as the hypothalamus. The present study sought to quantitate the somatodendritic expression of VMAT2 in C1 neurons, and to assess the subcellular distribution of the transporter. Immunoreactivity for VMAT2 occurred in 31% of C1 soma, with a high proportion of these in the caudal part of the RVLM. Retrograde tracing studies revealed that only two of 43 bulbospinal C1 neurons contained faint VMAT2-immunoreactivity, whilst 88 ± 5% of rostrally projecting neurons were VMAT2-positive. A lentivirus, designed to express green fluorescent protein exclusively in noradrenergic and adrenergic neurons, was injected into the RVLM to label C1 neurons. Eighty-three percent of C1 efferents that occurred in close proximity to sympathetic preganglionic neurons within the T3 intermediolateral cell column contained VMAT2-immunoreactivity. These data demonstrate differential distribution of VMAT2 within different subpopulations of C1 neurons and suggest that this might reflect differences in somatodendritic vs. synaptic release of catecholamines. [source] Premotor sympathetic neurons of conditioned fear in the ratEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 3 2008Pascal Carrive Abstract Conditioned fear to context, a pure form of psychological stress, is associated with sympathetically mediated changes including a marked hypertension. To identify the possible premotor sympathetic neurons mediating these changes, we conducted double-immunolabelling experiments combining fear-induced Fos with retrograde tracing from the thoracic cord (T2-L1). Presympathetic groups showing the greatest increase in the proportion of spinally projecting cells double-labelled with Fos compared with resting controls were the perifornical area (PeF; 22.7% vs. 0.4%) and paraventricular nucleus (Pa; 10.5% vs. 0.2%) in the hypothalamus, and the A5 noradrenergic group (33.6% vs. 0.2%) in the pons. In contrast, there was only a small increase in the presympathetic groups of the rostral ventral medulla, including the lateral paragigantocellular group (LPGi; 4.3% vs. 0.5%), raphe magnus and pallidus (1.1% vs. 0.6% and 1.8% vs. 0.5%), and the vasopressor group of the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM; 1.9% vs. 0.8%). PeF, Pa, A5 and LPGi accounted for 21, 15, 16 and 6% of all the double-labelled cells, respectively, and RVLM for only 1%. Double-immunolabelling of Fos and tyrosine hydroxylase confirmed that many A5 neurons were activated (19%) and that practically no C1 neurons in RVLM were (1.3%). The results suggest that the main premotor sympathetic drive of the fear response comes from hypothalamic (PeF and Pa) and A5 neurons that project directly to the thoracic cord and bypass medullary presympathetic groups, and that the vasopressor premotor sympathetic neurons of the RVLM are unlikely to mediate the hypertensive pressure response of contextual fear. [source] Differential expression of catecholamine biosynthetic enzymes in the rat ventrolateral medullaTHE JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY, Issue 1 2001Jacqueline K. Phillips Abstract Adrenergic (C1) neurons located in the rostral ventrolateral medulla are considered a key component in the control of arterial blood pressure. Classically, C1 cells have been identified by their immunoreactivity for the catecholamine biosynthetic enzymes tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and/or phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT). However, no studies have simultaneously demonstrated the expression of aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) and dopamine ,-hydroxylase (DBH) in these neurons. We examined the expression and colocalization of all four enzymes in the rat ventrolateral medulla using immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. Retrograde tracer injected into thoracic spinal segments T2,T4 was used to identify bulbospinal neurons. Using fluorescence and confocal microscopy, most cells of the C1 group were shown to be double or triple labeled with TH, DBH, and PNMT, whereas only 65,78% were immunoreactive for AADC. Cells that lacked detectable immunoreactivity for AADC were located in the rostral C1 region, and approximately 50% were spinally projecting. Some cells in this area lacked DBH immunoreactivity (6.5,8.3%) but were positive for TH and/or PNMT. Small numbers of cells were immunoreactive for only one of the four enzymes. Numerous fibres that were immunoreactive for DBH but not for TH or PNMT were noted in the rostral C1 region. Single-cell RT-PCR analysis conducted on spinally projecting C1 neurons indicated that only 76.5% of cells that contained mRNA for TH, DBH, and PNMT contained detectable message for AADC. These experiments suggest that a proportion of C1 cells may not express all of the enzymes necessary for adrenaline synthesis. J. Comp. Neurol. 432:20,34, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Orthostatic hypotension associated with dorsal medullary cavernous angiomaACTA NEUROLOGICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 1 2009J. Idiaquez Background,,, Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is a rare manifestation of medulla oblongata lesions that may be because of interruption of descending sympathoexcitatory axons. Aims,,, To illustrate the location of a medullary lesion that produced OH following resection in relationship to the location of putative sympathoexcitatory pathways. Method,,, A case with dorsal medullary cavernous angioma presenting with OH is described. The possible localization of lesion was compared with distribution of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-immunoreactive axons in a comparable section of the medulla of a control brain. Results,,, The patient had marked OH after partial removal of the cavernous angioma. Biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. The magnetic resonance imaging location of the lesion overlapped that of TH-immunoreactive axons of the medullary transtegmental tract. Conclusions,,, A restricted lesion of medullary lesion interrupting the catecholaminergic transtegmental tract arising from the sympathoexcitatory C1 neurons of the rostral ventrolateral medulla could result in severe OH. [source] |