PUBLICATION
Intrinsic and extrinsic innervation of the heart in zebrafish (Danio rerio)
- Authors
- Stoyek, M.R., Croll, R.P., Smith, F.M.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-150226-10
- Date
- 2015
- Source
- The Journal of comparative neurology 523(11): 1683-700 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Keywords
- HCN ion channels, intrinsic cardiac nervous system, sinoatrial nerve plexus
- MeSH Terms
-
- Myocardium/metabolism
- Immunohistochemistry
- Animals
- Female
- Heart/innervation*
- Neurons/cytology
- Neurons/metabolism
- Zebrafish/anatomy & histology*
- Zebrafish/metabolism
- Male
- Models, Animal
- PubMed
- 25711945 Full text @ J. Comp. Neurol.
Citation
Stoyek, M.R., Croll, R.P., Smith, F.M. (2015) Intrinsic and extrinsic innervation of the heart in zebrafish (Danio rerio). The Journal of comparative neurology. 523(11):1683-700.
Abstract
In the vertebrate heart the intracardiac nervous system is the final common pathway for autonomic control of cardiac output, however the neuroanatomy of this system is not well understood in any vertebrate. In this study we investigated the innervation of the heart in a model vertebrate, the zebrafish. We used antibodies against acetylated tubulin, human neuronal protein C/D, choline acetyltransferase, tyrosine hydroxylase, neuronal nitric oxide synthase and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide to visualize neural elements and their neurotransmitter content. Most neurons were located at the venous pole in a plexus around the sinoatrial valve; mean total number of cells was 197±23 and 92% were choline acetyltransferase-positive, implying a cholinergic role. The plexus contained cholinergic, adrenergic, and nitrergic axons and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-positive terminals, some innervating somata. Putative pacemaker cells near the plexus showed immunoreactivity for hyperpolarization activated, cyclic nucleotide-gated channel 4 and the transcription factor Islet-1 (Isl1). The neurotracer neurobiotin showed that extrinsic axons from the left and right vagosympathetic trunks innervated the sinoatrial plexus proximal to their entry into the heart; some extrinsic axons from each trunk also projected into the medial dorsal plexus region. Extrinsic axons also innervated the atrial and ventricular walls. An extracardiac nerve trunk innervated the bulbus arteriosus and entered the arterial pole of the heart to innervate the proximal ventricle. We have shown that the intracardiac nervous system in the zebrafish is anatomically and neurochemically complex, providing the substrate for autonomic control of cardiac effectors in all chambers. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping