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Chemosensitive serotonergic neurons are closely associated with large medullary arteries

Abstract

We have previously shown that serotonergic neurons of the medulla are strongly stimulated by an increase in CO2, suggesting that they are central respiratory chemoreceptors. Here we used confocal imaging and electron microscopy to show that neurons immunoreactive for tryptophan hydroxylase (TpOH) are tightly apposed to large arteries in the rat medulla. We used patch-clamp recordings from brain slices to confirm that neurons with this anatomical specialization are chemosensitive. Serotonergic neurons are ideally situated for sensing arterial blood CO2, and may help maintain pH homeostasis via wide-ranging effects on brain function. The results reported here support a recent proposal that sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) results from a developmental abnormality of medullary serotonergic neurons1.

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Figure 1: Serotonergic medullary neurons were concentrated near the basilar artery and its largest branches.
Figure 2: Serotonergic neurons were intimately associated with arterial walls.
Figure 3: Serotonergic neurons next to blood vessels were stimulated by acidosis.

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Acknowledgements

Supported by US National Institutes of Health HL-52539 (S.R.B., W.W. and G.B.R.), the Veteran's Affairs Medical Center (G.B.R.) and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (R.A.J.). Special thanks to S. Segal for providing FITC-BSA.

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Correspondence to George B. Richerson.

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Bradley, S., Pieribone, V., Wang, W. et al. Chemosensitive serotonergic neurons are closely associated with large medullary arteries. Nat Neurosci 5, 401–402 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn848

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