title: Loss of JAM-C leads to impaired esophageal innervations and megaesophagus in mice.
abstract: Megaesophagus is a disease where peristalsis fails to occur properly and esophagus is enlarged. The etiology and mechanism of megaesophagus are not well understood. In this study, we reported that junctional adhesion molecule C (JAM-C) knockout mice on a C57/B6 background developed progressive megaesophagus from embryonic day (E) 15.5 onward with complete penetrance. JAM-C knockout mice exhibited a significant reduction in the number of nerve fibers/ganglia in the wall of the esophagus. However, histological analysis revealed that the esophageal wall thickness and structure of JAM-C knockout mice at embryonic stages and young adult were comparable to that of control littermates. Thus, megaesophagus observed in JAM-C knockout mice could be attributed, at least in part, to impaired esophageal innervations. Our data suggest JAM-C as a potential candidate gene for human megaesophagus, and JAM-C knockout mice might serve as a model for the study of human megaesophagus.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Translational Medicine, East Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200120, China.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Translational Medicine, East Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200120, China.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Translational Medicine, East Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200120, China.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Translational Medicine, East Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200120, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Translational Medicine, East Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200120, China.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Translational Medicine, East Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200120, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Translational Medicine, East Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200120, China.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Translational Medicine, East Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200120, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Translational Medicine, East Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200120, China. xingqunliang@tongji.edu.cn.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000378:metabolism*; D004931:Esophageal Achalasia / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D004947:Esophagus / Q000196:embryology / Q000294:innervation* / Q000473:pathology; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout
chemical_list: D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D007136:Immunoglobulins; C486723:Jam3 protein, mouse
keywords: JAM-C; esophageal innervation; gene knockout; megaesophagus