|
|
||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
2 Department of Medical Anatomy, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
3 Intestinal Disease Research Program, Mc Master University, Hamilton, Canada
4 Department of Animal Biology, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
5 Department of Medical Anatomy, University of Copenhagen, Cpenhagen, Denmark
6 Intestinal Disease Research Program, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: marcel.jimenez{at}uab.es.
The aim of this study was to characterize the pacemaker activity and inhibitory neurotransmission in the colon of Ws/Ws mutant rats, which harbour a mutation in the c-kit gene that affects development of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC). In Ws/Ws rats, the density of KIT-positive cells was markedly reduced. Wild type, but not Ws/Ws rats showed low and high frequency cyclic depolarization which were associated with highly regular myogenic motor patterns at the same frequencies. In Ws/Ws rats, irregular patterns of action potentials triggered irregular muscle contractions occurring within a bandwidth of 10-20 cycles/min. Spontaneous activity of nitrergic nerves caused sustained inhibition of muscle activity in both wild type (+/+) and Ws/Ws rats. Electrical field stimulation of enteric nerves, after blockade of cholinergic and adrenergic activity, elicited inhibition of mechanical activity and biphasic inhibitory junction potentials both in wild type and Ws/Ws rats. Apamin sensitive, likely purinergic, inhibitory innervation was not affected by loss of ICC. Variable presence of nitrergic innervation likely reflects the presence of direct nitrergic innervation to smooth muscle cells as well as indirect innervation via ICC. In summary, loss of ICC markedly affects pacemaker and motor activities of the rat colon. Inhibitory innervation is largely maintained but nitrergic innervation is reduced possibly related to the loss of ICC mediated relaxation.
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
A. Garcia-Pascual, M. Sancho, G. Costa, and D. Triguero Interstitial cells of Cajal in the urethra are cGMP-mediated targets of nitrergic neurotransmission Am J Physiol Renal Physiol, October 1, 2008; 295(4): F971 - F983. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. A. Teitelbaum, M. G. Gareau, J. Jury, P. C. Yang, and M. H. Perdue Chronic peripheral administration of corticotropin-releasing factor causes colonic barrier dysfunction similar to psychological stress Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol, September 1, 2008; 295(3): G452 - G459. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
T. Ordog Do we need to revise the role of interstitial cells of Cajal in gastrointestinal motility? Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol, February 1, 2008; 294(2): G368 - G371. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. K. Sarna Are interstitial cells of Cajal plurifunction cells in the gut? Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol, February 1, 2008; 294(2): G372 - G390. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
Jan. D. Huizinga, D. E. Reed, I. Berezin, X.-Y. Wang, Diana. T. Valdez, L. W. C. Liu, and N. E. Diamant Survival dependency of intramuscular ICC on vagal afferent nerves in the cat esophagus Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, February 1, 2008; 294(2): R302 - R310. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. Forrest, J. D. Huizinga, X.-Y. Wang, L. W. C. Liu, and M. Parsons Increase in stretch-induced rhythmic motor activity in the diabetic rat colon is associated with loss of ICC of the submuscular plexus Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol, January 1, 2008; 294(1): G315 - G326. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH |
| Visit Other APS Journals Online |