Sympathetic neurons innervate the heart early in postnatal development, an event that is crucial for proper modulation of blood pressure and cardiac function. However, the axon guidance cues that direct sympathetic neurons to the heart, and the neuronal receptors that recognize those cues, are poorly understood. Here we present evidence that interactions between the alpha4beta1 integrin on sympathetic neurons and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in the heart plays a role in cardiac innervation. The alpha4 subunit was detected on postnatal rat superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons in culture and in cryosections of SCG and heart. VCAM-1 immunoreactivity was detected on cardiac myocytes that associate with invading sympathetic neurons. Purified recombinant soluble VCAM-1 (rsVCAM-1) stimulated SCG neurite outgrowth at levels comparable with laminin 2/4 and fibronectin (Fn), and outgrowth on rs-VCAM-1 and Fn was blocked by antibodies specific for the alpha4 and beta1 integrin subunits. Intrathoracic injection of function-blocking antibodies to alpha4 and VCAM-1, as well as a small molecule inhibitor of alpha4 integrins, significantly reduced sympathetic innervation of the heart. These results indicate that the interaction between alpha4 integrin and VCAM-1 is important for sympathetic innervation of the heart.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.22-24-10772.2002 | DOI Listing |
PLoS Biol
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Department of Internal Medicine, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
The unique architecture of the liver consists of hepatic lobules, dividing the hepatic features of metabolism into 2 distinct zones, namely the pericentral and periportal zones, the spatial characteristics of which are broadly defined as metabolic zonation. R-spondin3 (Rspo3), a bioactive protein promoting the Wnt signaling pathway, regulates metabolic features especially around hepatic central veins. However, the functional impact of hepatic metabolic zonation, regulated by the Rspo3/Wnt signaling pathway, on whole-body metabolism homeostasis remains poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiscov Med
January 2025
Department of Pharmacology "Otto Orsingher", Institute of Experimental Pharmacology of Córdoba (IFEC-CONICET), Faculty of Chemical Sciences, National University of Córdoba, X5000 Córdoba, Argentina.
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View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Transl Med
January 2025
Department of Oncology, Shanghai East Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, P.R. China.
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View Article and Find Full Text PDFBr J Anaesth
January 2025
Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address:
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View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Neuroanat
January 2025
Department of Molecular Medicine, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Hodological patterning refers to developmental mechanisms that link the location of neurons in the brain or spinal cord to specific axonal trajectories that direct connectivity to synaptic targets either within the central nervous system or in the periphery. In vertebrate motor circuits, hodological patterning has been demonstrated at different levels, from the final motor output of somatic and preganglionic autonomic neurons targeting peripheral motoneurons and ganglion cells, to premotor inputs from spinal and brainstem neuron populations targeting the somatic motoneurons and preganglionic autonomic neurons, to cortical neurons that delegate movement commands to the brainstem and spinal neurons. In many cases molecular profiling reveals potential underlying mechanisms whereby selective gene expression creates the link between location and axon trajectory.
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