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Specific Paucity of Unmyelinated C-Fibers in Cutaneous Peripheral Nerves of the African Naked-Mole Rat: Comparative Analysis Using Six Species of Bathyergidae

In mammalian peripheral nerves, unmyelinated C-fibers usually outnumber myelinated A-fibers. By using transmission electron microscopy, we recently showed that the saphenous nerve of the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) has a C-fiber deficit manifested as a substantially lower C:A-fiber ratio...

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Autores principales: Smith, Ewan S, Purfürst, Bettina, Grigoryan, Tamara, Park, Thomas J, Bennett, Nigel C, Lewin, Gary R
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3410526/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22528859
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cne.23133
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author Smith, Ewan S
Purfürst, Bettina
Grigoryan, Tamara
Park, Thomas J
Bennett, Nigel C
Lewin, Gary R
author_facet Smith, Ewan S
Purfürst, Bettina
Grigoryan, Tamara
Park, Thomas J
Bennett, Nigel C
Lewin, Gary R
author_sort Smith, Ewan S
collection PubMed
description In mammalian peripheral nerves, unmyelinated C-fibers usually outnumber myelinated A-fibers. By using transmission electron microscopy, we recently showed that the saphenous nerve of the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) has a C-fiber deficit manifested as a substantially lower C:A-fiber ratio compared with other mammals. Here we determined the uniqueness of this C-fiber deficit by performing a quantitative anatomical analysis of several peripheral nerves in five further members of the Bathyergidae mole-rat family: silvery (Heliophobius argenteocinereus), giant (Fukomys mechowii), Damaraland (Fukomys damarensis), Mashona (Fukomys darlingi), and Natal (Cryptomys hottentotus natalensis) mole-rats. In the largely cutaneous saphenous and sural nerves, the naked mole-rat had the lowest C:A-fiber ratio (∼1.5:1 compared with ∼3:1), whereas, in nerves innervating both skin and muscle (common peroneal and tibial) or just muscle (lateral/medial gastrocnemius), this pattern was mostly absent. We asked whether lack of hair follicles alone accounts for the C-fiber paucity by using as a model a mouse that loses virtually all its hair as a consequence of conditional deletion of the β-catenin gene in the skin. These β-catenin loss-of function mice (β-cat LOF mice) displayed only a mild decrease in C:A-fiber ratio compared with wild-type mice (4.42 compared with 3.81). We suggest that the selective cutaneous C-fiber deficit in the cutaneous nerves of naked mole-rats is unlikely to be due primarily to lack of skin hair follicles. Possible mechanisms contributing to this unique peripheral nerve anatomy are discussed. J. Comp. Neurol. 520:2785–2803, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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spelling pubmed-34105262012-08-02 Specific Paucity of Unmyelinated C-Fibers in Cutaneous Peripheral Nerves of the African Naked-Mole Rat: Comparative Analysis Using Six Species of Bathyergidae Smith, Ewan S Purfürst, Bettina Grigoryan, Tamara Park, Thomas J Bennett, Nigel C Lewin, Gary R J Comp Neurol Research Articles In mammalian peripheral nerves, unmyelinated C-fibers usually outnumber myelinated A-fibers. By using transmission electron microscopy, we recently showed that the saphenous nerve of the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) has a C-fiber deficit manifested as a substantially lower C:A-fiber ratio compared with other mammals. Here we determined the uniqueness of this C-fiber deficit by performing a quantitative anatomical analysis of several peripheral nerves in five further members of the Bathyergidae mole-rat family: silvery (Heliophobius argenteocinereus), giant (Fukomys mechowii), Damaraland (Fukomys damarensis), Mashona (Fukomys darlingi), and Natal (Cryptomys hottentotus natalensis) mole-rats. In the largely cutaneous saphenous and sural nerves, the naked mole-rat had the lowest C:A-fiber ratio (∼1.5:1 compared with ∼3:1), whereas, in nerves innervating both skin and muscle (common peroneal and tibial) or just muscle (lateral/medial gastrocnemius), this pattern was mostly absent. We asked whether lack of hair follicles alone accounts for the C-fiber paucity by using as a model a mouse that loses virtually all its hair as a consequence of conditional deletion of the β-catenin gene in the skin. These β-catenin loss-of function mice (β-cat LOF mice) displayed only a mild decrease in C:A-fiber ratio compared with wild-type mice (4.42 compared with 3.81). We suggest that the selective cutaneous C-fiber deficit in the cutaneous nerves of naked mole-rats is unlikely to be due primarily to lack of skin hair follicles. Possible mechanisms contributing to this unique peripheral nerve anatomy are discussed. J. Comp. Neurol. 520:2785–2803, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 2012-08-15 2012-04-24 /pmc/articles/PMC3410526/ /pubmed/22528859 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cne.23133 Text en Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ Re-use of this article is permitted in accordance with the Creative Commons Deed, Attribution 2.5, which does not permit commercial exploitation.
spellingShingle Research Articles
Smith, Ewan S
Purfürst, Bettina
Grigoryan, Tamara
Park, Thomas J
Bennett, Nigel C
Lewin, Gary R
Specific Paucity of Unmyelinated C-Fibers in Cutaneous Peripheral Nerves of the African Naked-Mole Rat: Comparative Analysis Using Six Species of Bathyergidae
title Specific Paucity of Unmyelinated C-Fibers in Cutaneous Peripheral Nerves of the African Naked-Mole Rat: Comparative Analysis Using Six Species of Bathyergidae
title_full Specific Paucity of Unmyelinated C-Fibers in Cutaneous Peripheral Nerves of the African Naked-Mole Rat: Comparative Analysis Using Six Species of Bathyergidae
title_fullStr Specific Paucity of Unmyelinated C-Fibers in Cutaneous Peripheral Nerves of the African Naked-Mole Rat: Comparative Analysis Using Six Species of Bathyergidae
title_full_unstemmed Specific Paucity of Unmyelinated C-Fibers in Cutaneous Peripheral Nerves of the African Naked-Mole Rat: Comparative Analysis Using Six Species of Bathyergidae
title_short Specific Paucity of Unmyelinated C-Fibers in Cutaneous Peripheral Nerves of the African Naked-Mole Rat: Comparative Analysis Using Six Species of Bathyergidae
title_sort specific paucity of unmyelinated c-fibers in cutaneous peripheral nerves of the african naked-mole rat: comparative analysis using six species of bathyergidae
topic Research Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3410526/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22528859
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cne.23133
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