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Chemical Senses Advance Access originally published online on January 29, 2009
Chemical Senses 2009 34(3):253-267; doi:10.1093/chemse/bjn085
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Characterization of Parabrachial Subnuclei in Mice with Regard to Salt Tastants: Possible Independence of Taste Relay from Visceral Processing

Koji Hashimoto1,3, Kunihiko Obata2,4 and Hisashi Ogawa1,5

1 Department of Sensory and Cognitive Physiology, Faculty of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Honjo 1-1-1, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan 2 Laboratory of Neurochemistry, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Myodaiji-cho, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan 3 Present address: Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kuhonji 4-24-1, Kumamoto 862-0976, Japan 4 Present address: Laboratory of Neuronal Circuit Mechanism, Brain Science Institute, RIKEN, Hirosawa 2-1, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan 5 Present address: Department of Neurology, Juryo Kumamoto Kinoh Hospital, Yamamuro 6-8-1, Kumamoto 860-8518, Japan

Correspondence to be sent to: Koji Hashimoto, Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kuhonji 4-24-1, Kumamoto 862-0976, Japan. e-mail: coji{at}kumamoto-u.ac.jp


  Abstract

We examined whether salt taste and/or abdominal illness were dealt within different subnuclei in the parabrachial nucleus (PBN) in mice, using retrograde tracing methods and c-Fos–like immunoreactivity (FLI) detection procedures. Some PBN subnuclei have distinct functions and receive various sensory inputs from the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) and other areas and relay them to the higher order nuclei such as the thalamus. The afferent-dependent pattern of FLI has been investigated in the PBN. However, it is unclear in which PBN subnuclei the tastants induce c-Fos, or whether PBN subnuclei process taste inputs separately from other inputs, or integrate them. After the tracer injections into the thalamic taste relay, the retrograde labeled cells revealed the taste relay cells in the PBN at the boundary with the superior cerebellar peduncle of both the inner part of the external lateral subnucleus and the medial subnucleus and in the waist area. On the other hand, NaCl intake induced intense FLI in the dorsal lateral subnucleus, whereas LiCl intake yielded intense FLI in both the dorsal lateral subnucleus and the outer part of the external lateral subnucleus. Thus, the present findings that subnuclei relaying taste information to the thalamus do not yield FLI in response to salt taste and abdominal illness indicate that they lack FLI yielding pathways or that they are independent from the subnuclei processing salt taste and visceral information via c-Fos in mice.

Key words: c-Fos, lithium chloride, salt stimulus, visceral sensation, wheat germ agglutinin–conjugated horseradish peroxidase

Abbreviations: Bar, Barrington's nucleus • CnF, cuneiform nucleus • fr, fasciculus retroflexus • LC, locus coeruleus • LPBC, central lateral subnucleus of the parabrachial nucleus • LPBD, dorsal lateral subnucleus of the parabrachial nucleus • LPBE, external lateral subnucleus of the parabrachial nucleus • LPBEi, inner part of the external lateral subnucleus of the parabrachial nucleus • LPBEo, outer part of the external lateral subnucleus of the parabrachial nucleus • LPBI, internal lateral subnucleus of the parabrachial nucleus • LPBV, ventral lateral subnucleus of the parabrachial nucleus • Me5, mesencephalic trigeminal nucleus • ml, medial lemniscus • Mo5, trigeminal motor nucleus • MPB, medial subnucleus of the parabrachial nucleus • MPBC, central medial subnucleus of the parabrachial nucleus • MPBD, dorsal medial subnucleus of the parabrachial nucleus • MPBE, external medial subnucleus of the parabrachial nucleus • NTS, solitary tract • PBN, parabrachial nucleus • PF, parafascicular thalamic nucleus • Po, posterior thalamic nuclear group • Pr5, the principal sensory trigeminal nucleus • scp, superior cerebellar peduncle • VM, ventromedial thalamic nucleus • VPL, ventral posterolateral nucleus in the thalamus • VPM, ventral posteromedial nucleus in the thalamus • VPMpc, parvicellular part of the ventral posteromedial nucleus in the thalamus • vsc, ventral spinocerebellar tract • wa, waist area

Accepted 24 December 2008


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