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Cholinergic neuromuscular transmission mediated by interstitial cells of Cajal in the myenteric layer in mouse ileal longitudinal smooth muscles

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Abstract

To elucidate the roles played by the interstitial cells of Cajal in the myenteric layer (ICC-MY) in cholinergic neuromuscular transmission, we recorded mechanical and electrical activities in response to electrical field stimulation (EFS) of the ileal longitudinal muscle strips from WBB6F1-W/WV (W/WV) mutant mice, that lacked ICC-MY and compared with those in WBB6F1-+/+ (+/+) control mice. In +/+ muscle strips, EFS induced phasic contractions, which were abolished or strongly attenuated by atropine or tetrodotoxin. In W/WV preparations, EFS induced similar phasic contractions, but the cholinergic component was smaller than that in +/+ strips. This was despite of the fact that the contractions because of exogenous applications of carbachol and high K+ solution in W/WV strips were comparable to or rather greater than those in the +/+ preparations. EFS induced atropine-sensitive excitatory junction potentials (EJPs) in the +/+ longitudinal smooth muscle cells but not in W/WV cells. In the presence of eserine, EFS induced atropine-sensitive EJPs in W/WV cells. These results suggest that ICC-MY mediate the cholinergic neuromuscular transmission in mouse ileal longitudinal smooth muscles. In addition, the other pathway in which ICC-MY are not involved can operate concomitantly.

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Abbreviations

ACh:

Acetylcholine

CCh:

Carbamylcholine chloride

EFS:

Electrical field stimulation

EJP:

Excitatory junction potential

ICC:

Interstitial cells of Cajal

ICC-DMP:

ICC that exist in the deep muscular plexus

ICC-MY:

ICC that exist in the myenteric plexus

IJP:

Inhibitory junction potential

PGP9.5:

Protein gene product 9.5

TTX:

Tetrodotoxin

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the JSPS Research Fellows for Young Scientists (no. 203080) and JSPS KAKENHI grant nos. 22380159 and 25870891 from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Medical Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kyoto Sangyo University, Motoyama, Kamigamo, Kita-Ku, Kyoto, 603-8555, Japan

    Yasuyuki Tanahashi

  2. Laboratory of Veterinary Pharmacology, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Applied Biological Science, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu, 501-1193, Japan

    Yoshirou Ichimura, Kaori Kimura, Hayato Matsuyama, Seiichi Komori & Toshihiro Unno

  3. Department of Morphological and Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Fukui University, Eiheiji, Fukui, 910-1193, Japan

    Satoshi Iino

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  1. Yasuyuki Tanahashi
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  2. Yoshirou Ichimura
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  3. Kaori Kimura
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  4. Hayato Matsuyama
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Correspondence to Yasuyuki Tanahashi.

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Tanahashi, Y., Ichimura, Y., Kimura, K. et al. Cholinergic neuromuscular transmission mediated by interstitial cells of Cajal in the myenteric layer in mouse ileal longitudinal smooth muscles. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch Pharmacol 387, 377–388 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00210-013-0944-2

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