TY - JOUR
T1 - A novel GABAergic afferent input to the pontine reticular formation
T2 - The mesopontine GABAergic column
AU - Liang, Chang Lin
AU - Marks, Gerald A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by grants from the Department of Veterans Affairs (Merit Review) and The National Institutes of Health ( R01MH57434 ). We thank Ginger Zhou for her technical assistance in immunohistochemistry.
PY - 2009/10/22
Y1 - 2009/10/22
N2 - Pharmacological manipulations of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmission in the nucleus pontis oralis (PnO) of the rat brainstem produce alterations in sleep/wake behavior. Local applications of GABAA receptor antagonists and agonists increase REM sleep and wake, respectively. These findings support a role for GABAergic mechanisms of the PnO in the control of arousal state. We have been investigating sources of GABA innervation of the PnO that may interact with local GABAA receptors in the control of state. Utilizing a retrograde tracer, cholera toxin-B subunit (CTb), injected into the PnO and dual-label immunohistochemistry with an antibody against glutamic acid decarboxalase-67 (GAD67), we report on a previously unidentified GABAergic neuronal population projecting to the contralateral PnO appearing as a column of cells, with long-axis in the sagittal plane, extending through the midbrain and pons. We refer to these neurons as the mesopontine GABAergic column (MPGC). The contiguous, columnar, anatomical distribution suggests operation as a functional neural system, which may influence expression of REM sleep, wake and other behaviors subserved by the PnO.
AB - Pharmacological manipulations of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmission in the nucleus pontis oralis (PnO) of the rat brainstem produce alterations in sleep/wake behavior. Local applications of GABAA receptor antagonists and agonists increase REM sleep and wake, respectively. These findings support a role for GABAergic mechanisms of the PnO in the control of arousal state. We have been investigating sources of GABA innervation of the PnO that may interact with local GABAA receptors in the control of state. Utilizing a retrograde tracer, cholera toxin-B subunit (CTb), injected into the PnO and dual-label immunohistochemistry with an antibody against glutamic acid decarboxalase-67 (GAD67), we report on a previously unidentified GABAergic neuronal population projecting to the contralateral PnO appearing as a column of cells, with long-axis in the sagittal plane, extending through the midbrain and pons. We refer to these neurons as the mesopontine GABAergic column (MPGC). The contiguous, columnar, anatomical distribution suggests operation as a functional neural system, which may influence expression of REM sleep, wake and other behaviors subserved by the PnO.
KW - Cholera toxin-B subunit
KW - GABA
KW - Nucleus pontis oralis
KW - REM sleep
KW - Retrograde labeling
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U2 - 10.1016/j.brainres.2009.08.045
DO - 10.1016/j.brainres.2009.08.045
M3 - Article
C2 - 19699725
AN - SCOPUS:71749089783
SN - 0006-8993
VL - 1297
SP - 32
EP - 40
JO - Brain Research
JF - Brain Research
ER -