Topic
Solitary tract
About: Solitary tract is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2166 publications have been published within this topic receiving 117338 citations. The topic is also known as: solitary tract of medulla oblongata & round fasciculus.
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TL;DR: Comparing the distribution of the classical and novel forms of ER mRNA‐expressing neurons in the central nervous system (CNS) of the rat with in situ hybridization histochemistry provides evidence that the region‐specific expression of ER‐α, ER‐β, or both may be important in determining the physiological responses of neuronal populations to estrogen action.
Abstract: Estrogen plays a profound role in regulating the structure and function of many neuronal systems in the adult rat brain. The actions of estrogen were thought to be mediated by a single nuclear estrogen receptor (ER) until the recent cloning of a novel ER (ER-beta). To ascertain which ER is involved in the regulation of different brain regions, the present study compared the distribution of the classical (ER-alpha) and novel (ER-beta) forms of ER mRNA-expressing neurons in the central nervous system (CNS) of the rat with in situ hybridization histochemistry. Female rat brain, spinal cord, and eyes were frozen, and cryostat sections were collected on slides, hybridized with [35S]-labeled antisense riboprobes complimentary to ER-alpha or ER-beta mRNA, stringently washed, and opposed to emulsion. The results of these studies revealed the presence of ER-alpha and ER-beta mRNA throughout the rostral-caudal extent of the brain and spinal cord. Neurons of the olfactory bulb, supraoptic, paraventricular, suprachiasmatic, and tuberal hypothalamic nuclei, zona incerta, ventral tegmental area, cerebellum (Purkinje cells), laminae III-V, VIII, and IX of the spinal cord, and pineal gland contained exclusively ER-beta mRNA. In contrast, only ER-alpha hybridization signal was seen in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus and subfornical organ. Perikarya in other brain regions, including the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, medial and cortical amygdaloid nuclei, preoptic area, lateral habenula, periaqueductal gray, parabrachial nucleus, locus ceruleus, nucleus of the solitary tract, spinal trigeminal nucleus and superficial laminae of the spinal cord, contained both forms of ER mRNA. Although the cerebral cortex and hippocampus contained both ER mRNAs, the hybridization signal for ER-alpha mRNA was very weak compared with ER-beta mRNA. The results of these in situ hybridization studies provide detailed information about the distribution of ER-alpha and ER-beta mRNAs in the rat CNS. In addition, this comparative study provides evidence that the region-specific expression of ER-alpha, ER-beta, or both may be important in determining the physiological responses of neuronal populations to estrogen action.
2,247 citations
TL;DR: Two G protein‐coupled receptors have been identified that bind corticotropin‐releasing factor (CRF) and urocortin (UCN) with high affinity and hybridization histochemical methods were used to shed light on controversies concerning their localization in rat brain, and to provide normative distributional data in mouse.
Abstract: Two G protein-coupled receptors have been identified that bind corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and urocortin (UCN) with high affinity. Hybridization histochemical methods were used to shed light on controversies concerning their localization in rat brain, and to provide normative distributional data in mouse, the standard model for genetic manipulation in mammals. The distribution of CRF-R1 mRNA in mouse was found to be fundamentally similar to that in rat, with expression predominating in the cerebral cortex, sensory relay nuclei, and in the cerebellum and its major afferents. Pronounced species differences in distribution were few, although more subtle variations in the relative strength of R1 expression were seen in several forebrain regions. CRF-R2 mRNA displayed comparable expression in rat and mouse brain, distinct from, and more restricted than that of CRF-R1. Major neuronal sites of CRF-R2 expression included aspects of the olfactory bulb, lateral septal nucleus, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus, medial and posterior cortical nuclei of the amygdala, ventral hippocampus, mesencephalic raphe nuclei, and novel localizations in the nucleus of the solitary tract and area postrema. Several sites of expression in the limbic forebrain were found to overlap partially with ones of androgen receptor expression. In pituitary, rat and mouse displayed CRF-R1 mRNA signal continuously over the intermediate lobe and over a subset of cells in the anterior lobe, whereas CRF-R2 transcripts were expressed mainly in the posterior lobe. The distinctive expression pattern of CRF-R2 mRNA identifies additional putative central sites of action for CRF and/or UCN. Constitutive expression of CRF-R2 mRNA in the nucleus of the solitary tract, and stress-inducible expression of CRF-R1 transcripts in the paraventricular nucleus may provide a basis for understanding documented effects of CRF-related peptides at a loci shown previously to lack a capacity for CRF-R expression or CRF binding. Other such "mismatches" remain to be reconciled.
1,028 citations
TL;DR: The subnuclear organization of PB is demonstrated, and this with the origins of its efferent connections, and recent immunohistochemical observations suggest that the subnuclear organizations of PB afferent and efferent connection may reflect, at least in part, their biochemical specificity.
977 citations
TL;DR: Surprisingly, VR1‐ir did not coexist substantially in nerve fibres and terminals that contain substance P and calcitonin gene‐related peptide, suggesting complex mechanisms for the release of these neuropeptides in response to capsaicin application.
Abstract: The vanilloid receptor (VR1) protein functions both as a receptor for capsaicin and a transducer of noxious thermal stimuli. To determine the expression and targetting of this protein, we have generated antisera against both the amino and carboxy termini of VR1. Within the dorsal root and trigeminal ganglia of rats, VR1-immunoreactivity (VR1-ir) was restricted to small and medium sized neurons. VR1-ir was transported into both the central and peripheral processes of these primary afferent neurons, as evidenced by: (i) the presence of VR1-ir in nerve fibres and terminals in lamina I and lamina II of the superficial dorsal horn, and the association of VR1-ir with small diameter nerve fibres in the skin and cornea; (ii) the reduction of VR1-ir in the spinal cord after dorsal rhizotomy; and (iii) the accumulation of VR1-ir proximal to sciatic nerve ligation. At the ultrastructural level, VR1-ir was associated with plasma membranes of neuronal perikarya in dorsal root ganglia and nerve terminals in the dorsal horn. VR1-ir was also seen in nerve fibres and terminals in the spinal trigeminal nucleus and nucleus of the solitary tract. Within a large proportion of dorsal root ganglion neurons and the terminals of their axons, VR1-ir was colocalized with staining for the P2X3 purinoceptor, and with binding sites for the lectin IB4. Surprisingly, VR1-ir did not coexist substantially in nerve fibres and terminals that contain substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide, suggesting complex mechanisms for the release of these neuropeptides in response to capsaicin application.
852 citations
TL;DR: Neurons within the RVL, most probably C1 adrenaline- synthesizing neurons, exert an excitatory influence on sympathetic vasomotor fibers, the adrenal medulla, and the posterior pituitary, as well as under tonic inhibitory control, in part via GABAergic mechanisms.
Abstract: We have studied the responses to electrical and chemical stimulation of the ventrolateral medulla in the chloralose-anesthetized, paralyzed, artificially ventilated rat Locations of most active pressor responses were compared to regions containing neurons labeled immunocytochemically for phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT), the enzyme catalyzing the synthesis of adrenaline Elevations of arterial pressure (+816 +/- 25 mm Hg) and cardioacceleration (+73 +/- 136 bpm) were elicited with low current (5 times threshold of 95 +/- 11 microA) electrical stimulation in a region of rostral ventrolateral medullary reticular formation we have termed the nucleus reticularis rostroventrolateralis (RVL) Electrical stimulation of the RVL increased plasma catecholamines (168-fold for adrenaline, 53-fold for noradrenaline, and 19-fold for dopamine) and vasopressin (17-fold before spinal transection, 47-fold after) The location of the most active pressor region in the ventrolateral medulla corresponded closely with the location of C1 adrenaline-synthesizing (PNMT-containing) neurons In addition, the location of the most active pressor region in the dorsomedial medulla corresponded with the location of a bundle of PNMT-containing axons Unilateral injections into the RVL of the excitatory amino acid monosodium L-glutamate (50 pmol to 10 nmol), but not saline, caused transient dose-dependent and topographically specific elevations (maximum +716 +/- 49 mm Hg) of arterial blood pressure and tachycardia Injections of the rigid structural analogue of glutamate, kainic acid, caused large, prolonged (at least 15 min) pressor responses and tachycardia Unilateral injections of the inhibitory amino acid gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) into the RVL caused transient dose-dependent hypotension (maximum -408 +/- 66 mm Hg) and bradycardia, whereas the specific GABA antagonist bicuculline caused prolonged (10 to 20 min) elevations (+642 +/- 68 mm Hg) of arterial pressure and tachycardia By contrast, injections of the glycine antagonist strychnine had no significant effect Bilateral injections of the neurotoxin, tetrodotoxin, dropped arterial pressure to low levels (517 +/- 47) not changed by subsequent spinal cord transection at the first cervical segment (525 +/- 62) We propose the following (1) Neurons within the RVL, most probably C1 adrenaline-synthesizing neurons, exert an excitatory influence on sympathetic vasomotor fibers, the adrenal medulla, and the posterior pituitary (2) These neurons are tonically active and under tonic inhibitory control, in part via GABAergic mechanisms--perhaps via the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS)(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
838 citations