Sciatic nerve injury in adult rats causes distinct changes in the central projections of sensory neurons expressing different glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor family receptors.

ABSTRACT: Most small unmyelinated neurons in adult rat dorsal root ganglia (DRG) express one or more of the coreceptors targeted by glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), neurturin, and artemin (GFRalpha1, GFRalpha2, and GFRalpha3, respectively). The function of these GDNF family ligands (GFLs) is not fully elucidated but recent evidence suggests GFLs could function in sensory neuron regeneration after nerve injury and peripheral nociceptor sensitization. In this study we used immunohistochemistry to determine if the DRG neurons targeted by each GFL change after sciatic nerve injury. We compared complete sciatic nerve transection and the chronic constriction model and found that the pattern of changes incurred by each injury was broadly similar. In lumbar spinal cord there was a widespr

SUBMITTER: Keast JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2883785 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature