Intersegmental synchronization of spontaneous activity of dorsal horn neurons in the cat spinal cord

2003 ◽  
Vol 148 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Manjarrez ◽  
I. Jiménez ◽  
P. Rudomin
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spontaneous Activity ◽  
Dorsal Horn ◽  
Dorsal Horn Neurons

Changes in Properties of Spinal Dorsal Horn Neurons and Their Sensitivity to Morphine after Spinal Cord Injury in the Rat

2005 ◽  
Vol 102 (1) ◽  
pp. 152-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jungang Wang ◽  
Mikito Kawamata ◽  
Akiyoshi Namiki
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spontaneous Activity ◽  
Dorsal Horn ◽  
Spinal Dorsal Horn ◽  
High Threshold ◽  
Dorsal Horn Neurons ◽  
Spinal Dorsal ◽  
Cord Injury ◽  
Spinal Dorsal Horn Neurons ◽  
Wdr Neurons

Background To gain a better understanding of spinal cord injury (SCI)-induced central neuropathic pain, the authors investigated changes in properties of spinal dorsal horn neurons located rostrally and caudally to the lesion and their sensitivity to morphine in rats after SCI. Methods The right spinal cord of Sprague-Dawley rats was hemisected at the level of L2. At 10 to 14 days after the SCI, when mechanical hyperalgesia/allodynia had fully developed, spontaneous activity and evoked responses to mechanical stimuli of wide-dynamic-range (WDR) and high-threshold neurons rostral and caudal to the lesion were recorded. Effects of cumulative doses of systemic (0.1-3 mg/kg) and spinal (0.1-5 microg) administration of morphine on spontaneous activity and evoked responses to the stimuli of the neurons were evaluated. Results Spontaneous activity significantly increased in WDR neurons both rostral and caudal to the SCI site, but high-frequency background discharges with burst patterns were only observed in neurons rostral to the SCI site. Significant increases in responses to the mechanical stimuli were seen both in WDR and high-threshold neurons located both rostrally and caudally to the lesion. The responses to nonnoxious and noxious stimuli were significantly greater in caudal WDR neurons than in rostral WDR neurons. In contrast, the responses to pinch stimuli were significantly higher in rostral high-threshold neurons than those in caudal high-threshold neurons. Systemically administered morphine had a greater effect on responses to nonnoxious and noxious stimuli of rostral WDR neurons than those of caudal WDR neurons. Spinally administered morphine significantly suppressed responses of WDR neurons in SCI animals to nonnoxious stimuli compared with those in sham-operated control animals. Conclusions The findings suggest that changes in properties of spinal dorsal horn neurons after SCI are caused by different mechanisms, depending on the classification of the neurons and their segmental locations.

scholarly journals Neuron-specific spinal cord translatomes reveal a neuropeptide code for mouse dorsal horn excitatory neurons

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Rani Das Gupta ◽  
Louis Scheurer ◽  
Pawel Pelczar ◽  
Hendrik Wildner ◽  
Hanns Ulrich Zeilhofer
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Dorsal Horn ◽  
Functional Organization ◽  
Affinity Purification ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Inhibitory Neurons ◽  
Dorsal Horn Neurons ◽  
Expression Of Genes ◽  
Excitatory Neurons ◽  
Genes Encoding

AbstractThe spinal dorsal horn harbors a sophisticated and heterogeneous network of excitatory and inhibitory neurons that process peripheral signals encoding different sensory modalities. Although it has long been recognized that this network is crucial both for the separation and the integration of sensory signals of different modalities, a systematic unbiased approach to the use of specific neuromodulatory systems is still missing. Here, we have used the translating ribosome affinity purification (TRAP) technique to map the translatomes of excitatory glutamatergic (vGluT2+) and inhibitory GABA and/or glycinergic (vGAT+ or Gad67+) neurons of the mouse spinal cord. Our analyses demonstrate that inhibitory and excitatory neurons are not only set apart, as expected, by the expression of genes related to the production, release or re-uptake of their principal neurotransmitters and by genes encoding for transcription factors, but also by a differential engagement of neuromodulator, especially neuropeptide, signaling pathways. Subsequent multiplex in situ hybridization revealed eleven neuropeptide genes that are strongly enriched in excitatory dorsal horn neurons and display largely non-overlapping expression patterns closely adhering to the laminar and presumably also functional organization of the spinal cord grey matter.

Muscle stretch-induced modulation of noxiously activated dorsal horn neurons of feline spinal cord

2004 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-184
Author(s):  
M Björklund ◽  
S Radovanovic ◽  
M Ljubisavljevic ◽  
U Windhorst ◽  
H Johansson
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Dorsal Horn ◽  
Muscle Stretch ◽  
Dorsal Horn Neurons

Developmental Changes in the Fidelity and Short-Term Plasticity of GABAergic Synapses in the Neonatal Rat Dorsal Horn

2008 ◽  
Vol 99 (6) ◽  
pp. 3144-3150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel A. Ingram ◽  
Maria Fitzgerald ◽  
Mark L. Baccei
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Dorsal Horn ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Neuronal Firing ◽  
Neonatal Rat ◽  
Superficial Dorsal Horn ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Dorsal Horn Neurons ◽  
Gabaergic Synapses

The lower thresholds and increased excitability of dorsal horn neurons in the neonatal rat suggest that inhibitory processing is less efficient in the immature spinal cord. This is unlikely to be explained by an absence of functional GABAergic inhibition because antagonism of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) type A receptors augments neuronal firing in vivo from the first days of life. However, it is possible that more subtle deficits in GABAergic signaling exist in the neonate, such as decreased reliability of transmission or greater depression during repetitive stimulation, both of which could influence the relative excitability of the immature spinal cord. To address this issue we examined monosynaptic GABAergic inputs onto superficial dorsal horn neurons using whole cell patch-clamp recordings made in spinal cord slices at a range of postnatal ages (P3, P10, and P21). The amplitudes of evoked inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) were significantly lower and showed greater variability in younger animals, suggesting a lower fidelity of GABAergic signaling at early postnatal ages. Paired-pulse ratios were similar throughout the postnatal period, whereas trains of stimuli (1, 5, 10, and 20 Hz) revealed frequency-dependent short-term depression (STD) of IPSCs at all ages. Although the magnitude of STD did not differ between ages, the recovery from depression was significantly slower at immature GABAergic synapses. These properties may affect the integration of synaptic inputs within developing superficial dorsal horn neurons and thus contribute to their larger receptive fields and enhanced afterdischarge.

scholarly journals Metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 regulates excitability and Kv4.2-containing K+ channels primarily in excitatory neurons of the spinal dorsal horn

2011 ◽  
Vol 105 (6) ◽  
pp. 3010-3021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui-Juan Hu ◽  
Robert W. Gereau
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Dorsal Horn ◽  
Spinal Dorsal Horn ◽  
Neuronal Excitability ◽  
Gabaergic Neurons ◽  
Erk Signaling ◽  
Metabotropic Glutamate ◽  
Dorsal Horn Neurons ◽  
Spinal Dorsal ◽  
Excitatory Neurons

Metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors play important roles in the modulation of nociception. Previous studies demonstrated that mGlu5 modulates nociceptive plasticity via activation of ERK signaling. We have reported recently that the Kv4.2 K+ channel subunit underlies A-type currents in spinal cord dorsal horn neurons and that this channel is modulated by mGlu5-ERK signaling. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that modulation of Kv4.2 by mGlu5 occurs in excitatory spinal dorsal horn neurons. With the use of a transgenic mouse strain expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (GFP) under control of the promoter for the γ-amino butyric acid (GABA)-synthesizing enzyme, glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 (GAD67), we found that these GABAergic neurons express less Kv4.2-mediated A-type current than non-GAD67-GFP neurons. Furthermore, the mGlu1/5 agonist, (R,S)-3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine, had no modulatory effects on A-type currents or neuronal excitability in this subgroup of GABAergic neurons but robustly modulated A-type currents and neuronal excitability in non-GFP-expressing neurons. Immunofluorescence studies revealed that Kv4.2 was highly colocalized with markers of excitatory neurons, such as vesicular glutamate transporter 1/2, PKCγ, and neurokinin 1, in cultured dorsal horn neurons. These results indicate that mGlu5-Kv4.2 signaling is associated with excitatory dorsal horn neurons and suggest that the pronociceptive effects of mGlu5 activation in the spinal cord likely involve enhanced excitability of excitatory neurons.

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