Barrington's nucleus: Neuroanatomic landscape of the mouse "pontine micturition center"

Anne M J Verstegen; Veronique Vanderhorst; Paul A Gray; Mark L Zeidel; Joel C Geerling

doi:10.1002/cne.24215

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Barrington's nucleus: Neuroanatomic landscape of the mouse "pontine micturition center"

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Barrington's nucleus: Neuroanatomic landscape of the mouse "pontine micturition center"

Anne M J Verstegen, Veronique Vanderhorst, Paul A Gray, Mark L Zeidel and Joel C Geerling

Journal of comparative neurology (1911), Vol.525(10), pp.2287-2309

07/01/2017

DOI: 10.1002/cne.24215

PMCID: PMC5832452

PMID: 28340519

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/5832452View

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Abstract

Barrington's nucleus (Bar) is thought to contain neurons that trigger voiding and thereby function as the "pontine micturition center." Lacking detailed information on this region in mice, we examined gene and protein markers to characterize Bar and the neurons surrounding it. Like rats and cats, mice have an ovoid core of medium-sized Bar neurons located medial to the locus coeruleus (LC). Bar neurons express a GFP reporter for Vglut2, develop from a Math1/Atoh1 lineage, and exhibit immunoreactivity for NeuN. Many neurons in and around this core cluster express a reporter for corticotrophin-releasing hormone (Bar ). Axons from Bar neurons project to the lumbosacral spinal cord and ramify extensively in two regions: the dorsal gray commissural and intermediolateral nuclei. Bar neurons have unexpectedly long dendrites, which may receive synaptic input from the cerebral cortex and other brain regions beyond the core afferents identified previously. Finally, at least five populations of neurons surround Bar: rostral-dorsomedial cholinergic neurons in the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus; lateral noradrenergic neurons in the LC; medial GABAergic neurons in the pontine central gray; ventromedial, small GABAergic neurons that express FoxP2; and dorsolateral glutamatergic neurons that express FoxP2 in the pLC and form a wedge dividing Bar from the dorsal LC. We discuss the implications of this new information for interpreting existing data and future experiments targeting Bar neurons and their synaptic afferents to study micturition and other pelvic functions.

Animals, Newborn

Barrington's Nucleus - chemistry

Mice, Inbred C57BL

Pons - physiology

Male

Mice, Transgenic

Barrington's Nucleus - anatomy & histology

Neural Pathways - physiology

Pons - chemistry

Neural Pathways - anatomy & histology

Animals

Pons - anatomy & histology

Female

Urination - physiology

Mice

Barrington's Nucleus - physiology

Neural Pathways - chemistry

Details

Title: Subtitle: Barrington's nucleus: Neuroanatomic landscape of the mouse "pontine micturition center"
Creators: Anne M J Verstegen - Department of Medicine & Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Veronique Vanderhorst - Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts
Paul A Gray - Indigo Ag, Inc., Charlestown, Massachusetts
Mark L Zeidel - Department of Medicine & Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Joel C Geerling - Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of comparative neurology (1911), Vol.525(10), pp.2287-2309
DOI: 10.1002/cne.24215
PMID: 28340519
PMCID: PMC5832452
NLM abbreviation: J Comp Neurol
ISSN: 0021-9967
eISSN: 1096-9861
Publisher: United States
Grant note: T32 HL007901 / NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL089742 / NHLBI NIH HHS R01 DK113030 / NIDDK NIH HHS R01 NS079623 / NINDS NIH HHS K08 NS099425 / NINDS NIH HHS P20 DK103086 / NIDDK NIH HHS R25 NS070682 / NINDS NIH HHS
Language: English
Date published: 07/01/2017
Academic Unit: Neurology; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984020799602771

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