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Revisiting the Stimulus-Secretion Coupling in the Adrenal Medulla: Role of Gap Junction-Mediated Intercellular Communication

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Abstract

The current view of stimulation-secretion coupling in adrenal neuroendocrine chromaffin cells holds that catecholamines are released upon transsynaptic sympathetic stimulation mediated by acetylcholine released from the splanchnic nerve terminals. However, this traditional vertical scheme would merit to be revisited in the light of recent data. Although electrical discharges invading the splanchnic nerve endings are the major physiological stimulus to trigger catecholamine release in vivo, growing evidence indicates that intercellular chromaffin cell communication mediated by gap junctions represents an additional route by which biological signals (electrical activity, changes in intracellular Ca2+ concentration,…) propagate between adjacent cells and trigger subsequent catecholamine exocytosis. Accordingly, it has been proposed that gap junctional communication efficiently helps synapses to lead chromaffin cell function and, in particular, hormone secretion. The experimental clues supporting this hypothesis are presented and discussed with regards to both interaction with the excitatory cholinergic synaptic transmission and physiopathology of the adrenal medulla.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Drs. Dominique Aunis and François Molino for critical reading of the manuscript and Mireille Passama for help with the artwork. This work has been supported by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche, Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale, ARC Régionale, and Région Languedoc-Roussillon.

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  1. Institute of Functional Genomics, Montpellier, France

    Claude Colomer, Michel G. Desarménien & Nathalie C. Guérineau

  2. CNRS UMR5203, Montpellier, France

    Claude Colomer, Michel G. Desarménien & Nathalie C. Guérineau

  3. INSERM U661, Montpellier, France

    Claude Colomer, Michel G. Desarménien & Nathalie C. Guérineau

  4. University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France

    Claude Colomer, Michel G. Desarménien & Nathalie C. Guérineau

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  1. Claude Colomer
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  2. Michel G. Desarménien
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  3. Nathalie C. Guérineau
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Correspondence to Nathalie C. Guérineau.

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Colomer, C., Desarménien, M.G. & Guérineau, N.C. Revisiting the Stimulus-Secretion Coupling in the Adrenal Medulla: Role of Gap Junction-Mediated Intercellular Communication. Mol Neurobiol 40, 87–100 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-009-8073-0

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