Nicotinic excitation of rat hypoglossal motoneurons.

Hypoglossal motoneurons (HMNs), which innervate the tongue muscles, are involved in several important physiological functions, including the maintenance of upper airway patency. The neural mechanisms that affect HMN excitability are therefore important determinants of effective breathing. Obstructive sleep apnea is a disorder characterized by recurrent collapse of the upper airway that is likely due to decline of pharyngeal motoneuron activity during sleep. Because cholinergic neuronal activity is closely coupled to wake and sleep states, we tested the effects and pharmacology of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) activation on HMNs. We made intracellular recordings from HMNs in medullary slices from neonatal rats and found that local application of the nicotinic agonist, 1,1-dimethyl-4-phenylpiperazinium iodide, excited HMNs by a Ca(2+)-sensitive, and TTX-insensitive inward current that was blocked by dihydro-beta-erythroidine (IC(50): 19+/-3 nM), methyllycaconitine (IC(50): 32+/-7 nM), and mecamylamine (IC(50): 88+/-11 nM), but not by alpha-bungarotoxin (10 nM). This is consistent with responses being mediated by postsynaptic nAChRs that do not contain the alpha7 subunit. These results suggest that nAChR activation may contribute to central maintenance of upper airway patency and that the decline in firing rate of cholinergic neurons during sleep could potentially disfacilitate airway dilator muscle activity, contributing to airway obstruction.

Modulation of respiratory frequency by peptidergic input to rhythmogenic neurons in the preBötzinger complex.

Neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1R) and mu-opioid receptor (muOR) agonists affected respiratory rhythm when injected directly into the preBötzinger Complex (preBötC), the hypothesized site for respiratory rhythmogenesis in mammals. These effects were mediated by actions on preBötC rhythmogenic neurons. The distribution of NK1R+ neurons anatomically defined the preBötC. Type 1 neurons in the preBötC, which have rhythmogenic properties, expressed both NK1Rs and muORs, whereas type 2 neurons expressed only NK1Rs. These findings suggest that the preBötC is a definable anatomic structure with unique physiological function and that a subpopulation of neurons expressing both NK1Rs and muORs generate respiratory rhythm and modulate respiratory frequency.

Proximal regions of the olfactory marker protein gene promoter direct olfactory neuron-specific expression in transgenic mice.

Olfactory marker protein (OMP) expression is highly restricted to mature olfactory neurons (ON). Less than 0.3 kb of upstream 5' flanking sequence of the OMP gene directs lacZ expression preferentially to ON in several independently derived lines of transgenic mice. A larger transgene with 0.8 kb of upstream flanking sequence also gave lacZ expression in ON and in a few ectopic sites in the central nervous system (CNS). In addition to the main olfactory epithelium, endogenous OMP is also expressed in chemosensory neurons of the vomeronasal and septal organs, and lacZ expression was detected in neurons of these sites as well. This confirmed the presence of regulatory sequences in the proximal portion of the OMP gene. Endogenous OMP expression in ON was normal in all transgenic lines. Strikingly, in several transgenic lines lacZ expression was restricted to subsets of ON. In one such line, ON axons were intensely stained for lacZ and projected to a subset of olfactory bulb glomeruli. Although identifiable subsets of ON and their termination fields have been described previously, this is the first demonstration of this phenomenon in transgenic mice. These lines of transgenic mice thus provide in vivo models for characterization of genetic elements regulating developmental and functional organization of the olfactory neuroepithelium.

Regulation of c-fos expression in transgenic mice requires multiple interdependent transcription control elements.

Transcription control regions of eukaryotic genes contain multiple sequence elements proposed to function independently to regulate transcription. We developed transgenic mice carrying fos-lacZ fusion genes with clustered point mutations in each of several distinct regulatory sequences: the sis-inducible element, the serum response element, the fos AP-1 site, and the calcium/cAMP response element. Analysis of Fos-lacZ expression in the CNS and in cultured cells demonstrated that all of the regulatory elements tested were required in concert for tissue- and stimulus-specific regulation of the c-fos promoter. This implies that the regulation of c-fos expression requires the concerted action of multiple control elements that direct the assembly of an interdependent transcription complex.

Control of segment-like patterns of gene expression in the mouse cerebellum.

A Purkinje cell-specific transgene, L7-lacZ, is expressed in a series of parasagitally oriented stripes in the mouse cerebellum. This banding pattern can be perturbed by promoter mutation, showing that a combination of positive and negative control elements contributes to the temporal and spatial map of L7 gene expression. In addition to the parasagittal stripes, certain mutations reveal Purkinje cells organized into compartments oriented in the transverse plane of the cerebellum. Transcription factors of the POU or homeobox families appear to be involved in controlling L7 expression in the transverse orientation. Strikingly, some of the domains of gene expression revealed by the mutations appear to correspond to functional compartments of Purkinje cells, thereby suggesting an underlying genetic principle used to orchestrate functional organization in the nervous system.