In situ three-dimensional reconstruction of mouse heart sympathetic innervation by two-photon excitation fluorescence imaging.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Sympathetic nerve wiring in the mammalian heart has remained largely unexplored. Resolving the wiring diagram of the cardiac sympathetic network would help establish the structural underpinnings of neurocardiac coupling.

New method

We used two-photon excitation fluorescence microscopy, combined with a computer-assisted 3-D tracking algorithm, to map the local sympathetic circuits in living hearts from adult transgenic mice expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) in peripheral adrenergic neurons.

Results

Quantitative co-localization analyses confirmed that the intramyocardial EGFP distribution recapitulated the anatomy of the sympathetic arbor. In the left ventricular subepicardium of the uninjured heart, the sympathetic network was composed of

SUBMITTER: Freeman K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3858460 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature