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Table 1 Selected subpopulations of postganglionic sympathetic neurons

From: Sympathetic tales: subdivisons of the autonomic nervous system and the impact of developmental studies

A) electrophysiologically defined subpopulations

Neuron class

MVC

CVC

SM

PM

 

Transmitter

NE

NE

ACH

NE

 

Peptide cat

NPY

NPY

VIP

  

GAL

GAL

CGRP

GAL

 

Peptide guinea pig

NPY

NPY

VIP

  
 

DYN

CGRP

DYN

 

major stimulus

 human

baro-inhibition

cooling general

warming general

  

 cat

baro-inhibition

temperature

vibration

hypothalamic stimulation

(selected from [17]

B) subpopulations defined by RNA sequencing

Neuron class

NA 1

NA 2

NA 3

NA 4

NA 5

ACH 1

ACH 2

Average transcript number per cell

 TH

69

105

93

85

100

25

1

 DBH

48

83

71

79

67

37

21

 DDC

43

105

91

107

88

28

12

 VMAT 2

29

63

58

38

34

4

2

 CHAT

zero

zero

zero

zero

zero

2

1

 VACHT

zero

zero

zero

zero

zero

7

9

 NPY

117

678

478

63

22

74

11

 SOM

zero

1

zero

zero

zero

3

53

 VIP

1

1

1

zero

zero

367

200

 CGRP (CALCA/B)

zero

zero

zero

zero

zero

4/3

6/5

defined target

 

erector

  

erector

  
 

muscle

  

muscle

  

compiled from [80], supplementary figure nn.4376 – S4

  1. The table displays a selected set of sympathetic neurons derived from electrophysiological analysis (A) or from RNA sequencing profiles (B)
  2. Electrophysiological analysis (A) defined a large number of sympathetic neuron classes named according to the target tissue supplied by the nerves from which recordings are made: MVC Muscle vasoconstrictor, SVC Skin vasoconstrictor, SM Sudomotor and PM Pilomotor among other populations not listed here. Classical neurotransmitters NE Norepinephrine and ACH Acetylcholine as well as neuropeptides detected in cat and guinea pig are provided for the individual neuron classes. In addition, the major stimuli detected by microneurography in humans and extracellular recording from prepared nerve filaments in cats are indicated to demonstrate the different reflex circuits and functional integration of the neuron classes
  3. RNA sequencing profiles analyzed by unsupervised clustering algorithms (B) from material derived from stellate and thoracic mouse sympathetic ganglia disclosed a number of noradrenergic (NA 1 to 5) and cholinergic (ACH 1, 2) neuron populations distinguished by the preferential expression of certain genes. The numbers shown for the different genes give the average number of transcripts for the respective gene in a cell of a given population. Interestingly transcripts for noradrenergic markers TH Tyrosine hydroxylase, DBH Dopamine beta hydroxylase, DDC DOPA decarboxylase and the VMAT 2 Vesicular monoamine transporter 2 are not absent from the cholinergic neuron populations. On the other hand, cholinergic markers CHAT choline acetyltransferase and the VACHT Vesicular acetylcholine transporter are not detectable in the noradrenergic neuron populations. The NPY Neuropeptide is not absent from cholinergic neurons while SOM Somatostatin and VIP Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide are largely restricted to one or both cholinergic neuron populations. The targets given for the NA 2 and NA 5 are derived from developmental analysis and genetic labeling of specifically expressed genes. The high level SOM expression in ACH2 is characteristic for sudomotor neurons
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Neural Development

ISSN: 1749-8104