Extension of sympathetic neurites in vitro towards explants of embryonic and neonatal mouse heart and stomach: ontogeny of neuronotrophic factors

The relevance of the superior cervical ganglion for cardiac autonomic innervation in health and disease: a systematic review

PURPOSE

The heart receives cervical and thoracic sympathetic contributions. Although the stellate ganglion is considered the main contributor to cardiac sympathetic innervation, the superior cervical ganglia (SCG) is used in many experimental studies. The clinical relevance of the SCG to cardiac innervation is controversial. We investigated current morphological and functional evidence as well as controversies on the contribution of the SCG to cardiac innervation.

METHODS

A systematic literature review was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and COCHRANE Library. Included studies received a full/text review and quality appraisal.

RESULTS

Seventy-six eligible studies performed between 1976 and 2023 were identified. In all species studied, morphological evidence of direct or indirect SCG contribution to cardiac innervation was found, but its contribution was limited. Morphologically, SCG sidedness may be relevant. There is indirect functional evidence that the SCG contributes to cardiac innervation as shown by its involvement in sympathetic overdrive reactions in cardiac disease states. A direct functional contribution was not found. Functional data on SCG sidedness was largely unavailable. Information about sex differences and pre- and postnatal differences was lacking.

CONCLUSION

Current literature mainly supports an indirect involvement of the SCG in cardiac innervation, via other structures and plexuses or via sympathetic overdrive in response to cardiac diseases. Morphological evidence of a direct involvement was found, but its contribution seems limited. The relevance of SCG sidedness, sex, and developmental stage in health and disease remains unclear and warrants further exploration.

Potential role of estrogen in maintaining the imbalanced sympathetic and sensory innervation in endometriosis

Endometriosis, one of the most common benign gynecological diseases, affects millions of women of childbearing age. Endometriosis-associated pain is a major cause of disability and compromised quality of life in women. Neuropathic mechanisms are believed to play an important role. An imbalanced sympathetic and sensory innervation (reduced sympathetic innervation, with unchanged or increased sensory innervation in endometriotic lesions) has been demonstrated in endometriosis in recent studies. And it is believed to contribute to the pathogenesis of endometriosis-associated pain. It is primarily considered to be a natural adaptive program to endometriosis-associated inflammation. However, it is important to further clarify whether other potential modulating factors are involved in this dysregulation. It is generally accepted that endometriosis is an estrogen dependent disease. Higher estrogen biosynthesis and lower estrogen inactivation in endometriosis can lead to an excess of local estrogen in endometriotic lesions. In addition to its proliferative and anti-inflammatory actions, local estrogen in endometriosis also exerts potential neuromodulatory effects on the innervation in endometriosis. The aim of this review is to highlight the role of estrogen in mediating this imbalanced sympathetic and sensory innervation in endometriosis, through direct and indirect mechanisms on sympathetic and sensory nerves. Theoretical elaboration of the underlying mechanisms provides new insights in supporting the therapeutic role of estrogen in endometriosis-associated pain.

Estrogen modulates myometrium-induced sympathetic neurite formation through actions on target and ganglion

Estrogen induces rapid and extensive degeneration of rodent uterine myometrial sympathetic innervation. To clarify the underlying mechanisms, we used explant cultures to assess whether estrogen affects the myometrium's ability to induce sympathetic neuritogenesis and the sympathetic neuron's ability to respond. Superior cervical ganglion explants from ovariectomized adult donors extended neurites when cultured alone in serum-free medium, and their numbers increased 2.3-fold in the presence of myometrial explants from ovariectomized adult rats. The myometrium's ability to induce neuritogenesis was abolished by injection of myometrium donors with 17beta-estradiol 24 h prior to tissue harvest. Myometrial neurite-promoting effects were also abolished by adding 2x10(-8)M estradiol to the culture medium. Because outgrowth from ganglia of ovariectomized rats cultured alone was not affected by estrogen in the culture medium, this indicates that estrogen acts directly on myometrium to abrogate its neurite-promoting effects. However, estrogen injection of ganglion donor rats also inhibited neurite extension toward ovariectomized myometrium, suggesting that some factor in ovariectomized rats normally acts on the ganglion to prevent estrogen from inhibiting neurite outgrowth. When ganglia from hypophysectomized ovariectomized donors were cultured alone, neuritogenesis was normal but estrogen added to the culture medium now attenuated outgrowth. Prolactin but not other pituitary-derived hormones reversed the suppression of neuritogenesis induced by estrogen. We conclude that estrogen acts directly on myometrium to inhibit its neuritogenic effects on sympathetic neurons. Estrogen can also attenuate neurite formation by acting directly on the ganglion; this effect normally is not apparent at low estrogen levels because a pituitary hormone (possibly prolactin) prevents the ganglion from responding fully to estrogen. With high in vivo estrogen, this pituitary hormone's effects are abated, possibly through diminished release, and estrogen directly reduces ganglion neuritogenesis. Thus, estrogen regulates uterine sympathetic nerve remodeling through actions on myometrium, ganglion, and intermediary pituitary factors.

Immunohistochemical localization of low-affinity nerve growth factor receptor in the enteric nervous system of adult rats

The localization of low-affinity nerve growth factor receptor in the enteric nervous system of adult rats has been studied by immunohistochemistry using a monoclonal antibody (clone 192) against the rat receptor. Cryostat and whole-mount sections were stained. By light and confocal microscopy, positive staining in neural structures was found in every part of the gut. In the ganglionic plexus, dense staining was detected in the neuropil surrounding neuronal cell bodies that were themselves devoid of immunoreactivity. Immunoelectron microscopy revealed deposition of reaction products on the outer plasma membranes of both perikarya and processes of neuronal as well as glial cells. Such a selective localization of the receptor in the plasma membrane, but not the cytoplasm, suggests that the mechanisms of receptor-ligand interaction in the gut may differ from those in the brain, where internalization of the receptor is observed in cholinergic cells. The present study provides the morphological basis for future studies designed to elucidate the functional significance of this enteric nervous system receptor. Since it is found in both neuronal and glial cells, it is probably under the influence of a number of trophic factors, including nerve growth factor.

Failure of insulin cells to develop in cultured embryonic chick pancreas: a model system for the detection of factors supporting insulin cell differentiation

Little being known about factors necessary for insulin cell differentiation, we tested the chance observation that these cells were virtually absent from collagen gel cultures of embryonic avian pancreas in which the other pancreatic endocrine cells were numerous. Five-day dorsal buds stripped of their enveloping mesenchyme were embedded in gel and overlaid by a defined medium containing serum, then cultured for 7 days. Immunocytochemical evaluation showed a very low proportion of insulin cells. Substitution of the gel by a polyamino acid coating slightly increased the proportion. In an attempt to test for ability of insulin cell formation to recover, we transferred explants first cultured in collagen gel to polyamino-acid-coated dishes for a further 7 days. No improvement resulted. In controls grown for 14 days on a polyamino acid coating, insulin cells disappeared completely. We conclude that collagen gel does not support survival and differentiation of chick embryonic insulin cells and that the medium used is lacking in some essential factor(s). Determination of their identity should prove possible by exploitation of this model.

Expression of the trk gene family of neurotrophin receptors in prevertebral sympathetic ganglia

When the phenotype of neurons in pre- and paravertebral sympathetic ganglia are compared, there are marked differences in NGF dependence, neuropeptide content, connectivity and electrophysiological properties. The trophic interactions that induce these differences are currently poorly understood. One explanation is that prevertebral neurons receive a second neurotrophic signal, other than NGF, from their target of innervation. If this is the case, neurons in the prevertebral ganglia should express another neurotrophin receptor, in addition to the NGF receptor (trkA). To test this prediction, the level of expression of three neurotrophin receptors, trkA, trkB and trkC, were examined in one paravertebral sympathetic ganglia, the SCG, and two prevertebral ganglia, the celiac and superior mesenteric ganglia. It was found that mRNA encoding the full-length form of the trkB receptor was barely expressed in the SCG. Significantly higher levels of full-length trkB mRNA expression were found in the prevertebral ganglia. Ligands of the trkB receptor may, therefore, contribute to the differentiation and/or survival of some prevertebral sympathetic neurons.

Lymphoid tissues induce NGF-dependent and NGF-independent neurite outgrowth from rat superior cervical ganglia explants in culture

Induction of neurite outgrowth from superior cervical ganglia (SCG) by rat lymphoid tissues was studied using a tissue culture model. Neonatal rat SCG were cultured with 6-12-week-old rat thymus, spleen, or mesenteric lymph node (MLN) explants in a Matrigel layer, in defined culture medium without exogenous nerve growth factor (NGF). SCG were also co-cultured with neonatal rat heart (as positive control) or spinal cord (SC; as negative control). To determine whether inflammation affects the ability of lymphoid tissues to induce neurite outgrowth, we also examined MLN at various times after infecting rats with Nip-postrongylus brasiliensis (Nb-MLN). In one series of experiments, a single lymphoid tissue explant was surrounded by four SCG at a distance of 1 mm. The extent of neurite outgrowth was determined by counting the number of neurites 0.5 mm away from each ganglion at several time points. Adult thymus and, to a lesser extent, spleen had strong stimulatory effects on neurite outgrowth from SCG after 12 hr or more in culture. For thymus tissue, this was similar to the positive control heart explants. MLN from normal rats had minimal effect on neurite outgrowth; however, Nb-MLN showed a time-dependent enhancement of the neurite outgrowth, maximal at 3 weeks after infection. The relative efficacy of neurite outgrowth induction (heart > or = thymus > or = Nb-MLN > or spleen > or = MLN > or = SC) was confirmed in a second series of experiments where one SCG was surrounded by three different tissue explants. We then examined the role of 2.5S NGF, a well-known trophic factor for sympathetic nerves, in the lymphoid tissue-induced neurite outgrowth. Anti-NGF treatment of co-cultures of SCG and heart almost completely blocked the neurite outgrowth. Anti-NGF also significantly inhibited thymus- and spleen-induced neurite outgrowth, but not as effectively as heart-induced neuritogenesis (93, 80, and 77% inhibition at 24 hr; 86, 70, and 68% inhibition at 48 hr for heart, thymus, and spleen, respectively). On the other hand, anti-NGF inhibited only 8% of neurite outgrowth induced by 3-week post-infection Nb-MLN at 24 hr, and 41% at 48 hr. These data show that several adult rat lymphoid tissues exert neurotrophic/tropic effects. The predominant growth factor in thymus and spleen is NGF, while Nb-MLN produces factor(s) which is (are) immunologically distinguishable from NGF.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)