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Fritzsch B. Evolution and development of extraocular motor neurons, nerves and muscles in vertebrates. Ann Anat 2024; 253:152225. [PMID: 38346566 DOI: 10.1016/j.aanat.2024.152225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2023] [Revised: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/17/2024]
Abstract
The purpose of this review is to analyze the origin of ocular motor neurons, define the pattern of innervation of nerve fibers that project to the extraocular eye muscles (EOMs), describe congenital disorders that alter the development of ocular motor neurons, and provide an overview of vestibular pathway inputs to ocular motor nuclei. Six eye muscles are innervated by axons of three ocular motor neurons, the oculomotor (CNIII), trochlear (CNIV), and abducens (CNVI) neurons. Ocular motor neurons (CNIII) originate in the midbrain and innervate the ipsilateral orbit, except for the superior rectus and the levator palpebrae, which are contralaterally innervated. Trochlear motor neurons (CNIV) originate at the midbrain-hindbrain junction and innervate the contralateral superior oblique muscle. Abducens motor neurons (CNVI) originate variously in the hindbrain of rhombomeres r4-6 that innervate the posterior (or lateral) rectus muscle and innervate the retractor bulbi. Genes allow a distinction between special somatic (CNIII, IV) and somatic (CNVI) ocular motor neurons. Development of ocular motor neurons and their axonal projections to the EOMs may be derailed by various genetic causes, resulting in the congenital cranial dysinnervation disorders. The ocular motor neurons innervate EOMs while the vestibular nuclei connect with the midbrain-brainstem motor neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernd Fritzsch
- Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical Center, NE, USA.
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Hao J, Wang M, Liu J, Yusufu M, Cao K, Fu J. Alteration of Neurotrophic Factors and Innervation in Extraocular Muscles of Individuals With Concomitant Esotropia. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2024; 65:1. [PMID: 38441891 PMCID: PMC10916883 DOI: 10.1167/iovs.65.3.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Purpose To determine whether neurotrophic factors and innervation in extraocular muscles (EOMs) were altered in different types of concomitant esotropia, and to explore the possible association between neurotrophic factors and innervation of EOMs in humans. Methods Patients with concomitant esotropia who required strabismus surgery were recruited from January to December 2022. Lateral rectus EOMs were obtained from patients, and controls were obtained from deceased organ donors. Immunofluorescence (IF) was performed to detect innervation of EOMs (neurofilament and synaptophysin), and immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to detect the neurotrophic factors insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3). The positive IHC results were further verified using western blotting (WB). One-way ANOVA followed by a Dunnett's multiple comparison post hoc test was used for continuous variables and the χ2 test for categorical variables. Spearman correlation analysis was used for the correlation analysis. Results We collected lateral rectus EOM samples from acute and chronic types of concomitant esotropia and controls. Consistent with IHC, WB showed that IGF-1 was significantly increased in patients with acute acquired comitant esotropia or essential infantile esotropia compared with controls. In IF, synaptophysins were significantly increased only in acute acquired comitant esotropia compared with controls. Furthermore, Spearman correlation analysis showed that the correlation between IGF-1 and synaptophysin was borderline (P = 0.057) for patients with acute acquired comitant esotropia. Conclusions Our study highlights the role of IGF-1 and altered innervation of EOMs in acute acquired comitant esotropia, suggesting that an effect of increased IGF-1 on nerve innervation may temporarily cause a compensatory increase in the strength of lateral rectus muscles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Hao
- Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Meixu Wang
- Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jiawen Liu
- Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States
| | - Mayinuer Yusufu
- Centre for Eye Research Australia, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, East Melbourne, Australia
- Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Kai Cao
- Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jing Fu
- Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Beijing, China
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Whitman MC, Gilette NM, Bell JL, Kim SA, Tischfield M, Engle EC. TWIST1, a gene associated with Saethre-Chotzen syndrome, regulates extraocular muscle organization in mouse. Dev Biol 2022; 490:126-133. [PMID: 35944701 PMCID: PMC9765759 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2022.07.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2022] [Revised: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 07/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Heterozygous loss of function mutations in TWIST1 cause Saethre-Chotzen syndrome, which is characterized by craniosynostosis, facial asymmetry, ptosis, strabismus, and distinctive ear appearance. Individuals with syndromic craniosynostosis have high rates of strabismus and ptosis, but the underlying pathology is unknown. Some individuals with syndromic craniosynostosis have been noted to have absence of individual extraocular muscles or abnormal insertions of the extraocular muscles on the globe. Using conditional knock-out alleles for Twist1 in cranial mesenchyme, we test the hypothesis that Twist1 is required for extraocular muscle organization and position, attachment to the globe, and/or innervation by the cranial nerves. We examined the extraocular muscles in conditional Twist1 knock-out animals using Twist2-cre and Pdgfrb-cre drivers. Both are expressed in cranial mesoderm and neural crest. Conditional inactivation of Twist1 using these drivers leads to disorganized extraocular muscles that cannot be reliably identified as specific muscles. Tendons do not form normally at the insertion and origin of these dysplastic muscles. Knock-out of Twist1 expression in tendon precursors, using scleraxis-cre, however, does not alter EOM organization. Furthermore, developing motor neurons, which do not express Twist1, display abnormal axonal trajectories in the orbit in the presence of dysplastic extraocular muscles. Strabismus in individuals with TWIST1 mutations may therefore be caused by abnormalities in extraocular muscle development and secondary abnormalities in innervation and tendon formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary C Whitman
- Department of Ophthalmology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA; F. M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Nicole M Gilette
- F. M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA; Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Jessica L Bell
- Department of Ophthalmology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Seoyoung A Kim
- Department of Ophthalmology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Max Tischfield
- F. M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA; Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Elizabeth C Engle
- Department of Ophthalmology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA; F. M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA; Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA; Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA.
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Vemula SK, Kim SA, Muvavarirwa T, Bell JL, Whitman MC. Impaired Extraocular Muscle Innervation Is Present Before Eye Opening in a Mouse Model of Infantile Nystagmus Syndrome. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2022; 63:4. [PMID: 36083589 PMCID: PMC9469029 DOI: 10.1167/iovs.63.10.4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose To determine if extraocular muscles (EOMs) from mice with nystagmus show abnormalities in myofiber composition and innervation, as seen in EOMs from human nystagmus patients, and to determine when in development those changes occur. Methods Balb/c albino mice were crossed to pigmented mice to generate heterozygous mice, which were mated to create experimental litters containing albinos and wild-type controls. Orbits were harvested from adult animals (12 weeks old); on postnatal day (P)0, P10, P14, and P21; and from 6-week-old animals. EOM sections were collected from the intraorbital portion of the muscles. Sections were immunostained for slow and fast myosin and for neuromuscular junctions (NMJs). The proportion of each myofiber subtype and the density and size of NMJs were quantified. Initial innervation patterns were assessed using whole-mount immunostaining of embryonic day (E)13.5 embryos expressing IslMN:GFP. Results Adult albino EOMs display an increased proportion of slow myofibers, larger slow myofibers, and a decreased density of NMJs—similar to human nystagmus patients. The percentage of NMJs on slow myofibers is also lower in albino animals. The initial innervation pattern of the incoming ocular motor neurons is normal in E13.5 albino embryos. Differences in the proportion of slow and fast myofiber subtypes are present as early as P14, and a lower percentage of NMJs on slow myofibers is present by P21. There is a lower density of NMJs on albino EOMs as early as P10, prior to eye opening. Conclusions Changes in NMJ development observed before eye opening indicate that nystagmus is not solely secondary to poor vision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sampath Kumar Vemula
- Department of Ophthalmology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Seoyoung A Kim
- Department of Ophthalmology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Tapiwa Muvavarirwa
- Department of Ophthalmology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Jessica L Bell
- Department of Ophthalmology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Mary C Whitman
- Department of Ophthalmology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States.,Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States.,F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
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