Neuromodulatory co-expression in cardiac vagal motor neurons of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus
Eden Hornung,
Shaina Robbins,
Ankita Srivastava,
Sirisha Achanta,
Jin Chen,
Zixi Jack Cheng,
James Schwaber,
Rajanikanth Vadigepalli
Affiliations
Eden Hornung
Daniel Baugh Institute of Functional Genomics/Computational Biology, Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
Shaina Robbins
Daniel Baugh Institute of Functional Genomics/Computational Biology, Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
Ankita Srivastava
Daniel Baugh Institute of Functional Genomics/Computational Biology, Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
Sirisha Achanta
Daniel Baugh Institute of Functional Genomics/Computational Biology, Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
Jin Chen
Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, BMS Building 20, Room 230, 4110 Libra Drive, Orlando, FL 32816, USA
Zixi Jack Cheng
Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, BMS Building 20, Room 230, 4110 Libra Drive, Orlando, FL 32816, USA
James Schwaber
Daniel Baugh Institute of Functional Genomics/Computational Biology, Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA; Corresponding author
Rajanikanth Vadigepalli
Daniel Baugh Institute of Functional Genomics/Computational Biology, Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA; Corresponding author
Summary: Vagal innervation is well known to be crucial to the maintenance of cardiac health, and to protect and recover the heart from injury. Only recently has this role been shown to depend on the activity of the underappreciated dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV). By combining neural tracing, transcriptomics, and anatomical mapping in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats, we characterize cardiac-specific neuronal phenotypes in the DMV. We find that the DMV cardiac-projecting neurons differentially express pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP), cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART), and synucleins, as well as evidence that they participate in neuromodulatory co-expression involving catecholamines. The significance of these findings is enhanced by previous knowledge of the role of PACAP at the heart and of the other neuromodulators in peripheral vagal targets.
