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. 2016 Feb;157(2):348-354.
doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000380.

Roles of isolectin B4-binding afferents in colorectal mechanical nociception

Affiliations

Roles of isolectin B4-binding afferents in colorectal mechanical nociception

Jun-Ho La et al. Pain. 2016 Feb.

Abstract

Isolectin B4-binding (IB4+) dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons are distinct from peptidergic DRG neurons in their terminal location in the spinal cord and respective contributions to various classes and modalities of nociception. In DRG neurons innervating the mouse colon (c-DRG neurons), the reported proportion of IB4+ population is inconsistent across studies, and little is known regarding their role in colorectal mechanonociception. To address these issues, in C57BL/6J mice, we quantified IB4+ binding after labeling c-DRG neurons with Fast Blue and examined functional consequences of ablating these neurons by IB4-conjugated saporin. Sixty-one percent of Fast Blue-labeled neurons in the L6 DRG were IB4+, and 95% of these IB4+ c-DRG neurons were peptidergic. Intrathecal administration of IB4-conjugated saporin reduced the proportion of IB4+ c-DRG neurons to 37%, which was due to the loss of c-DRG neurons showing strong to medium IB4+ intensity; c-DRG neurons with weak IB4+ intensity were spared. However, this loss altered neither nociceptive behaviors to colorectal distension nor the relative proportions of stretch-sensitive colorectal afferent classes characterized by single-fiber recordings. These findings demonstrate that more than 1 half of viscerosensory L6 c-DRG neurons in C57BL/6J mouse are IB4+ and suggest, in contrast to the reported roles of IB4+/nonpeptidergic neurons in cutaneous mechanonociception, c-DRG neurons with strong-to-medium IB4+ intensity do not play a significant role in colorectal mechanonociception.

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Conflict of interest statement

No authors have a conflict of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Isolectin B4-binding (IB4+) in L6 dorsal root ganglia neurons innervating the mouse distal colon (c-DRG neurons)
(A) Sixty one percent of L6 c-DRG neurons (labeled by retrograde tracer Fast Blue, FB) were IB4+ in control mice injected with unconjugated saporin. These IB4+ c-DRG neurons were of various (A) somata sizes and (B & C) IB4+ intensities classed into weak (W), medium (M), or strong (S) intensity. FB-containing neurons that did not bind IB4 (−) are outlined with a broken line in panel B (fluorescence images were inverted for clear representation of staining intensity; calibration bar=25 µm). Arrowheads in the lower panel indicate corresponding neurons containing FB. (C) The 8-bit grayscale histogram indicates that most L6 IB4+ c-DRG neurons bound IB4 with weak (grayscale
Fig 2
Fig 2. Neurochemical characterization of L6 IB4+ c-DRG neurons
L6 IB4+ c-DRG neurons were frequently (A) CGRP- or (B) TRPV1-immunoreactive, resulting in the conclusion that (C) more than one half of c-DRG neurons were both IB4+ and CGRP-immunoreactive (55%) or IB4+ and TRPV-immunoreactive (57%). This leads to the estimation that ~83% (54/65) of IB4+ c-DRG neurons would express both CGRP and TRPV1. Arrowheads indicate IB4+ c-DRG neurons. Double arrowheads indicate c-DRG neurons that are both target-positive and IB4+. Calibration bar=50 µm.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Ablation of IB4+ c-DRG neurons two weeks after intrathecal injection of IB4-conjugated saporin (IB4-sap)
Fourteen days after IB4-sap treatment, (A) the proportion of IB4+ c-DRG neurons was significantly reduced from 61% (N=6) to 37% (N=4, 40% reduction, ** p
Fig 4
Fig 4. Behavioral consequences of the ablation of IB4+ afferents
(A & B) Colorectal mechanical nociception (i.e., visceromotor response, VMR) to colorectal distension (CRD) was not altered 7 or 14 days after IB4-sap treatment. The mice showed no impairment in (C) inflammatory soup-induced sensitization or (D) restraint stress-induced defecation.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Properties of pelvic nerve colorectal afferents in mice treated with IB4-sap
(A) A representative trace of stretch-sensitive afferent (muscular-mucosal, Mus-Muc) discharging action potentials (AP) in response to a ramped circumferential stretch of the colorectal wall (0–170 mN, 5 mN/sec). (B) The relative proportion of each colorectal afferent class (four mechanically sensitive colorectal afferent classes and a mechanically insensitive (MIA) class) did not differ between control and IB4-sap-treated mice. There was a trend in stretch-sensitive afferent classes from IB4-sap-treated mice toward a decrease in (C) the proportion of afferents with low response thresholds (50 action potentials for 34 sec, p

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