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Lingual deficits in neurotrophin double knockout mice

  • Published:
Journal of Neurocytology

Abstract

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and Neurotrophin 3 (NT-3) are members of the neurotrophin family and are expressed in the developing and adult tongue papillae. BDNF null-mutated mice exhibit specific impairments related to innervation and development of the gustatory system while NT-3 null mice have deficits in their lingual somatosensory innervation. To further evaluate the functional specificity of these neurotrophins in the peripheral gustatory system, we generated double BDNF/NT-3 knockout mice and compared the phenotype to BDNF−/− and wild-type mice. Taste papillae morphology was severely distorted in BDNF−/− xNT-3−/− mice compared to single BDNF−/− and wild-type mice. The deficits were found throughout the tongue and all gustatory papillae. There was a significant loss of fungiform papillae and the papillae were smaller in size compared to BDNF−/− and wild-type mice. Circumvallate papillae in the double knockouts were smaller and did not contain any intraepithelial nerve fibers. BDNF−/− xNT-3−/− mice exhibited additive losses in both somatosensory and gustatory innervation indicating that BDNF and NT-3 exert specific roles in the innervation of the tongue. However, the additional loss of fungiform papillae and taste buds in BDNF−/− xNT-3−/− mice compared to single BDNF knockout mice indicate a synergistic functional role for both BDNF-dependent gustatory and NT-3-dependent somatosensory innervations in taste bud and taste papillae innervation and development.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Oral Neurobiology, Department of Biological and Materials Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109

    Irina V. Nosrat, Andrea Marinescu & Christopher A. Nosrat

  2. Unit of Molecular Neurobiology, MBB, Karolinska Institutet, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden

    Karin Agerman & Patrik Ernfors

Authors
  1. Irina V. Nosrat
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  2. Karin Agerman
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  3. Andrea Marinescu
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  4. Patrik Ernfors
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  5. Christopher A. Nosrat
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Correspondence to Christopher A. Nosrat.

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Nosrat, I.V., Agerman, K., Marinescu, A. et al. Lingual deficits in neurotrophin double knockout mice. J Neurocytol 33, 607–615 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11068-005-3330-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11068-005-3330-2

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