title: Area postrema undergoes dynamic postnatal changes in mice and humans.
abstract: The postnatal period in mammals represents a developmental epoch of significant change in the autonomic nervous system (ANS). This study focuses on postnatal development of the area postrema, a crucial ANS structure that regulates temperature, breathing, and satiety, among other activities. We find that the human area postrema undergoes significant developmental changes during postnatal development. To characterize these changes further, we used transgenic mouse reagents to delineate neuronal circuitry. We discovered that, although a well-formed ANS scaffold exists early in embryonic development, the area postrema shows a delayed maturation. Specifically, postnatal days 0-7 in mice show no significant change in area postrema volume or synaptic input from PHOX2B-derived neurons. In contrast, postnatal days 7-20 show a significant increase in volume and synaptic input from PHOX2B-derived neurons. We conclude that key ANS structures show unexpected dynamic developmental changes during postnatal development. These data provide a basis for understanding ANS dysfunction and disease predisposition in premature and postnatal humans.
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, College of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Division of Neuropathology, Columbus, Ohio, 43210.
authors.forename: Hamza Numan
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Gokozan
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, College of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Division of Neuropathology, Columbus, Ohio, 43210.
authors.forename: Faisal
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Baig
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, College of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Division of Neuropathology, Columbus, Ohio, 43210.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Corcoran
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, College of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Division of Neuropathology, Columbus, Ohio, 43210.
authors.forename: Fay Patsy
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Catacutan
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, College of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Division of Neuropathology, Columbus, Ohio, 43210.
authors.forename: Patrick Edwin
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Gygli
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Biomedical Science, University of São Paulo, 05508-900, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Takakura
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Institute of Biomedical Science, University of São Paulo, 05508-900, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Thiago S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, College of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Division of Neuropathology, Columbus, Ohio, 43210.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Czeisler
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, College of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Division of Neuropathology, Columbus, Ohio, 43210.
authors.forename: José J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Otero
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D031608:Area Postrema / Q000737:chemistry / Q000254:growth & development*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D057507:Mice, 129 Strain; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000737:chemistry / Q000254:growth & development*; D013045:Species Specificity
keywords: PHOX2B; area postrema; autonomic nervous system; circumventriculate organ; interoception; postnatal development