Expression of c‐fos protein in interneurons and projection neurons of the rat spinal cord in response to noxious somatic, articular, and visceral stimulation

作者：D. Menétrey, Allison Gannon, Jon D. Levine, Allan I. Basbaum · 发表于：The Journal of Comparative Neurology · 年份：1989 · DOI：10.1002/cne.902850203 · 被引用次数：502 · 研究领域：Neuroscience of respiration and sleep、Pain Mechanisms and Treatments、Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

Abstract This study used immunocytochemistry to examine the pattern of noxious‐stimulus evoked expression of the proto‐oncogene c‐fos in the spinal cord of the rat. Both noxious somatic and joint stimulation in awake rats evoked the expression of c‐fos protein in similar areas of the lumbar spinal cord. C‐fos‐immunoreactive neurons were found in laminae I and outer II, in the lateral part of the neck of the dorsal horn, and in laminae VII, VIII, and X. All of the labelled neurons were located ipsilateral to the injured hindpaw, except for lamina VIII where bilateral labelling was recorded. The c‐fos‐immunoreactive neurons in lamina I extended from the L3 segment to the rostral sacral cord; staining in outer lamina II was only found at the L4 segment. The more deeply located cells, of the dorsal and medioventral horns, had the most extensive rostrocaudal spread; they were found from L1 through the rostral sacral segments. The pattern of c‐fos‐immunoreactivity produced by visceral stimulation, in anesthetized rats, differed in several ways from that produced by somatic stimulation. First, there was considerable bilateral, symmetrical labelling of cells. Second, there was a much more extensive rostrocaudal spread of the labelling, from cervical through sacral cord. Third, the greatest rostrocaudal spread was found for neurons in the superficial dorsal horn; labelled cells in the neck of the dorsal horn and in lamina X were restricted to segments at the thoracolumbar junction, wh...