title: Calcitonin gene-related peptide-receptor component protein expression in the uterine cervix, lumbosacral spinal cord, and dorsal root ganglia.
abstract: The neuropeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) may play a role in neurogenic inflammation, tissue remodeling of the uterine cervix, promoting vasodilation, parturition, and processing of sensory information in the spinal cord. CGRP-immunoreactive nerves of the cervix and spinal cord have been studied but cellular identification of the CGRP receptor has received little attention. CGRP-receptor component protein (CGRP-RCP) is a small protein associated with the CGRP receptor; thus, immunostaining for the CGRP-RCP can be used to identify sites of the CGRP receptor. We determined sites of CGRP-RCP immunoreactivity relative to the presence of CGRP-ir nerve fibers in the female rat uterine cervix, spinal cord, and dorsal root ganglia. CGRP-RCP immunoreactivity was expressed in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, venules of the uterine cervix, and perikarya of sensory neurons in dorsal root ganglia. CGRP-immunoreactive fibers were adjacent to CGRP-RCP-immunoreactive vessels in the cervix and among CGRP-RCP-immunoreactive structures in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. This suggests CGRP-RCP is associated with structures innervated by CGRP nerves and these interactions may be changed in tissues in response to an appropriate stimulus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology and Pharmacology, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Rootstown, OH 44272, USA.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Pokabla
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Dickerson
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Papka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000378:metabolism*; D008161:Lumbosacral Region; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D018015:Receptors, Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000378:metabolism*; D014599:Uterus / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C491562:Crcp protein, rat; D018015:Receptors, Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide