PUBLICATION
Spinal cholinergic interneurons differentially control motoneuron excitability and alter the locomotor network operational range
- Authors
- Bertuzzi, M., Ampatzis, K.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-180202-4
- Date
- 2018
- Source
- Scientific Reports 8: 1988 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Keywords
- none
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Cholinergic Neurons/physiology*
- Interneurons/physiology*
- Locomotion/physiology*
- Models, Biological
- Motor Neurons/physiology*
- Receptors, Muscarinic/metabolism
- Spinal Cord/physiology*
- Zebrafish
- PubMed
- 29386582 Full text @ Sci. Rep.
Citation
Bertuzzi, M., Ampatzis, K. (2018) Spinal cholinergic interneurons differentially control motoneuron excitability and alter the locomotor network operational range. Scientific Reports. 8:1988.
Abstract
While cholinergic neuromodulation is important for locomotor circuit operation, the specific neuronal mechanisms that acetylcholine employs to regulate and fine-tune the speed of locomotion are largely unknown. Here, we show that cholinergic interneurons are present in the zebrafish spinal cord and differentially control the excitability of distinct classes of motoneurons (slow, intermediate and fast) in a muscarinic dependent manner. Moreover, we reveal that m2-type muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) are present in fast and intermediate motoneurons, but not in the slow motoneurons, and that their activation decreases neuronal firing. We also reveal a strong correlation between the muscarinic receptor configuration on motoneurons and the ability of the animals to locomote at different speeds, which might serve as a plasticity mechanism to alter the operational range of the locomotor networks. These unexpected findings provide new insights into the functional flexibility of motoneurons and how they execute locomotion at different speeds.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping