title: Neurocalcin-immunoreactive neurons in the petrosal ganglion innervate the taste bud.
abstract: The distribution and origin of neurocalcin-immunoreactive (NC-ir) nerve fibers in the taste bud and carotid body were examined by an immunofluorescence method. In the circumvallate papilla of the tongue, NC-ir nerve fibers made subepithelial nerve plexuses and occasionally penetrated the taste bud. However, the carotid body was devoid of ir nerve fibers. In the petrosal ganglion, 32% of neurons were immunoreactive for NC. Such neurons were mostly medium-sized to large, and scattered throughout the ganglion. In the superior cervical and intralingual ganglia, numerous ir varicose fibers surrounded postsynaptic neurons. However, NC-ir could not be detected in cell bodies of these neurons. The retrograde tracing method indicated that NC-ir petrosal neurons innervated taste buds in the circumvallate papilla. NC-ir neurons may have a gustatory function in the petrosal ganglion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Function and Anatomy and Biodental Research Center, Graduate School of Medicine and Dentistry, Okayama University, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Okayama 700-8525, Japan. hiroichi@md.okayama-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002344:Carotid Body / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D002452:Cell Count; D048429:Cell Size; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000378:metabolism; D005726:Ganglia, Parasympathetic / Q000166:cytology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051596:Neurocalcin; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D044169:Receptors, Calcium-Sensing / Q000378:metabolism*; D013266:Stilbamidines / Q000378:metabolism; D013650:Taste Buds / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C049774:2-hydroxy-4,4'-diamidinostilbene, methanesulfonate salt; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D051596:Neurocalcin; D044169:Receptors, Calcium-Sensing; D013266:Stilbamidines; C496690:Vsnl1 protein, rat