title: Tetrodotoxin-resistant sodium channels Na(v)1.8/SNS and Na(v)1.9/NaN in afferent neurons innervating urinary bladder in control and spinal cord injured rats.
abstract: Tetrodotoxin-resistant (TTX-R) sodium channels Na(v)1.8/SNS and Na(v)1.9/NaN are preferentially expressed in small diameter dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons. The urinary bladder is innervated by small afferent neurons from L6/S1 DRG, of which approximately 75% exhibit high-threshold action potentials that are mediated by TTX-R sodium channels. Following transection of the spinal cord at T8, the bladder becomes areflexic and then gradually hyper-reflexic, and there is an attenuation of the TTX-R sodium currents in bladder afferent neurons. In the present study, we demonstrate that Na(v)1.8 is expressed in both bladder and non-bladder afferent neurons, while Na(v)1.9 is expressed in non-bladder afferent neurons but is rarely observed in bladder afferent neurons. In spinal cord transected rats 28-32 days following transection, there is a decreased expression of Na(v)1.8 sodium channels in bladder afferents, but no change in the expression of Na(v)1.8 in non-bladder afferent neurons. Both bladder and non-bladder afferent neurons exhibit limited increases in Na(v)1.9 expression following spinal cord transection. These results demonstrate that the expression of TTX-R channels in bladder afferent neurons changes after spinal cord transection, and these changes may contribute to the increased excitability of these neurons following spinal cord injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and PVA/EPVA Neuroscience Research Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA. joel.black@yale.edu
authors.forename: Joel A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Black
authors.forename: Theodore R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Cummins
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
authors.forename: William C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: de Groat
authors.forename: Stephen G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Waxman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D005260:Female; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D062559:NAV1.8 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel; D062558:NAV1.9 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000187:drug effects*; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D026941:Sodium Channel Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D013779:Tetrodotoxin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000294:innervation*
chemical_list: D062559:NAV1.8 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel; D062558:NAV1.9 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel; D009479:Neuropeptides; C568319:Scn10a protein, rat; C113705:Scn11a protein, rat; D026941:Sodium Channel Blockers; D015222:Sodium Channels; D013779:Tetrodotoxin