GSE172411
Highly Selective Brain-to-Gut Communication via Genetically-Defined Vagus Neurons
The vagus nerve innervates many organs, and most if not all of its motor fibers are  cholinergic. However, no one knows its organizing principles; whether or not there are  dedicated neurons with restricted targets that act as "labeled lines" to perform certain  functions – including two opposing ones (gastric contraction versus relaxation). By  performing unbiased transcriptional profiling of DMV cholinergic neurons, we  discovered seven molecularly-distinct subtypes of motor neurons. Then, by using  subtype-specific Cre driver mice, we go on to show that two of these subtypes  exclusively innervate the glandular domain of the stomach where, remarkably, they  contact different enteric neurons releasing functionally opposing neurotransmitters  (acetylcholine versus nitric oxide). Thus, the vagus motor nerve communicates via  genetically-defined labeled lines to control functionally unique enteric neurons within  discrete subregions of the gastrointestinal tract. This discovery provides a conceptual  breakthrough on the division of labor used by the vagus motor nerve to control  function. Overall design: Single-nuclei RNA-Seq (sNuc-Seq) analysis of 384 samples isolated from the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus of 12 week old Chat-IRES-cre male mice (C57Bl6/j background)