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Neural control of the hearts in the leech,Hirudo medicinalis

I. Anatomy, electrical coupling, and innervation of the hearts

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Summary

  1. 1.

    The longitudinal and circular muscle fibers observed in cross sections of the hearts ofHirudo medicinalis are different regions of a single type of spindle shaped muscle cell. The cells are arranged with their thin tapering arms running longitudinally along the lumen of the heart and their thick central regions forming the perimeter of the heart.

  2. 2.

    Two geometrical forms of these cells exist: acis form whose arms project longitudinally in the same direction, and atrans form whose arms project in opposite directions.

  3. 3.

    Thecis andtrans forms are differentially distributed along the heart in a pattern which repeats in every segment. This differential distribution may contribute to the formation of the sphincter in each segment.

  4. 4.

    Heart muscle cells are electrically coupled. The length constant for passive electrotonic spread of current along the heart is approximately 0.6 mm. Intracellularly injected Lucifer yellow also passes into adjacent cells.

  5. 5.

    Muscle cells form contacts by sending microvilli to adjacent cells. Large patches of particles resembling E face gap junctions are seen with freeze fracture electron microscopy.

  6. 6.

    Two classes of central neurons, heart excitor motor neurons (HE cells) and heart accessory neurons (HA cells), innervate the heart. Both neurons make classical chemical junctions with heart muscle cells as seen with the electron microscope.

  7. 7.

    HE cells evoke excitatory junctional potentials in heart muscle cells while HA cells do not. The roles of these cells in controlling the polarization and constriction of the heart are described in the second and third papers of this series (Maranto and Calabrese 1984; Calabrese and Maranto 1984).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Biological Laboratories, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, 02138, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Anthony R. Maranto & Ronald L. Calabrese

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  1. Anthony R. Maranto
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  2. Ronald L. Calabrese
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Maranto, A.R., Calabrese, R.L. Neural control of the hearts in the leech,Hirudo medicinalis . J. Comp. Physiol. 154, 367–380 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00605236

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