Alimentary TractInterstitial cells of Cajal mediate enteric inhibitory neurotransmission in the lower esophageal and pyloric sphincters☆,☆☆
Section snippets
Materials and methods
Wild-type (+/+; black coats) and W/Wv (pure white coats) mice,18 between the ages of 20 and 30 days postpartum, were anesthesized by chloroform inhalation and exsanguinated by cervical dislocation followed by decapitation. The entire stomach, including portions of the esophagus and duodenum (Figure 1A), was removed and placed in Krebs–Ringer's buffer (KRB).
c-Kit–positive cells in the LES and pyloric sphincter and the consequences of W mutations on c-Kit–expressing cells
Antibodies to c-Kit were used to determine the distribution of cells with c-Kit–like immunoreactivity (c-Kit–LI). In six LES examined, cells with c-Kit–LI were distributed within the circular and longitudinal muscle layers (Figure 2A).
Discussion
The LES and pyloric sphincter of the mouse have spindle-shaped ICC similar to the gastric fundus.17 Similar cells have also been observed in the esophagus, LES, stomach, cecum, and internal anal sphincter of the guinea pig,21 but the physiological role of this class of ICC in sphincters has not been documented previously. Spindle-shaped ICC lie within the circular and longitudinal muscle layers in close apposition with smooth muscle cells and varicose processes of motor neurons. We have
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Julia Bayguinov for technical assistance and Piers Emson at the Molecular Neuroscience Group in Cambridge, England, for the gift of anti-nNOS antibody.
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Address requests for reprints to: Kenton M. Sanders, Ph.D., Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, University of Nevada School of Medicine, Reno, Nevada 89557. e-mail: [email protected]; fax: (702) 784-6903.
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Supported by grant DK 40569 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Morphology was provided by a core laboratory supported by PO1 DK 41315.