Identification of neurons that express stem cell factor in the mouse small intestine.
OBJECTIVE
Enteric neurons in the murine intestine express stem cell factor (SCF), which may provide an important signal in the development of the interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC). Our aim was to identify the subpopulation(s) of myenteric neurons that express SCF.


METHODS
Myenteric plexus preparations from postnatal SCF-lacZ mice were processed for beta-galactosidase histochemistry followed by immunohistochemistry.


RESULTS
Approximately 60% of the nitric oxide synthase-immunoreactive neurons, which projected to myenteric ganglia and to circular muscle, expressed SCF, and more than 80% of the calbindin-immunoreactive neurons, which projected exclusively to myenteric ganglia, expressed SCF. A small subpopulation of calretinin-immunoreactive neurons expressed SCF transiently. Many of the remainder of SCF-expressing neurons were choline acetyltransferase immunoreactive, but their projections are unknown.


CONCLUSIONS
SCF-expressing neurons that project within the myenteric plexus may be an important source of SCF for the development of Kit-expressing ICC at this level. The only possible neuronal source of SCF for the ICC of the deep muscular plexus is a subpopulation of nitric oxide synthase-immunoreactive neurons.
Young
H M
HM
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia. h.young@anatomy.unimelb.edu.au
Torihashi
S
S
Ciampoli
D
D
Sanders
K M
KM
D000818:Animals; D064032:Calbindin 2; D064026:Calbindins; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000294:innervation*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic / Q000235:genetics; D009197:Myenteric Plexus / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000378:metabolism; D052248:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G / Q000378:metabolism; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D019089:Stem Cell Factor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000378:metabolism
C576511:Calb2 protein, mouse; D064032:Calbindin 2; D064026:Calbindins; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G; D019089:Stem Cell Factor; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D052248:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I; C496321:Nos1 protein, mouse; D001616:beta-Galactosidase