The co-expression of P2X3 receptor with VR1 and VRL-1 in the rat trigeminal ganglion

Hiroyuki Ichikawa, Tomosada Sugimoto

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

47 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The co-expression of P2X3 receptor with the vanilloid receptor subtype I (VR1) and vanilloid receptor 1-like receptor (VRL-1) was examined in the rat trigeminal ganglion (TG) by a double immunofluorescence method. P2X3 receptor-immunoreactive (ir) neurons were predominantly small to medium-sized (range=93.8-1844.4 μm2, mean±S.D.=503.8±286.5 μm2); 35% and 9% of P2X3 receptor-ir TG neurons were immunoreactive for VR1 and VRL-1, respectively. Small and medium-sized P2X3 receptor-ir neurons contained VR1-immunoreactivity (ir), whereas medium-sized and large P2X3 receptor-ir neurons showed VRL-1-ir. The retrograde tracing and immunohistochemical methods revealed that 30% of the TG neurons retrogradely labeled from the facial skin and tooth pulp exhibited P2X3 receptor-ir. The co-expression of P2X3 receptor and VR1 was detected in 16% of cutaneous TG neurons and 6% of tooth pulp neurons. On the other hand, the co-expression of P2X3 receptor and VRL-1 was common in tooth pulp neurons (23%) and rare in cutaneous TG neurons (8%). In the tooth pulp, 95% of P2X3 receptor-ir TG neurons contained VRL-1-ir. The present study indicates that P2X3 receptor-ir TG neurons, which co-express VR-ir, are abundant in the facial skin. The tooth pulp is probably innervated by TG neurons, which contain both P2X3-and VRL-1-ir.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)130-135
Number of pages6
JournalBrain Research
Volume998
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 13 2004

Keywords

  • Facial skin
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • P2X3 receptor
  • Tooth pulp
  • Trigeminal ganglion
  • VR1
  • VRL-1

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Neuroscience(all)
  • Molecular Biology
  • Clinical Neurology
  • Developmental Biology

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