Expression of Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) and the GDNF Family Receptor Alpha Subunit 1 in the Paravaginal Ganglia of Nulliparous and Primiparous Rabbits.
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ABSTRACT: PURPOSE:To evaluate the expression of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and its receptor, GDNF family receptor alpha subunit 1 (GFR?-1) in the pelvic (middle third) vagina and, particularly, in the paravaginal ganglia of nulliparous and primiparous rabbits. METHODS:Chinchilla-breed female rabbits were used. Primiparas were killed on postpartum day 3 and nulliparas upon reaching a similar age. The vaginal tracts were processed for histological analyses or frozen for Western blot assays. We measured the ganglionic area, the Abercrombie-corrected number of paravaginal neurons, the cross-sectional area of the neuronal somata, and the number of satellite glial cells (SGCs) per neuron. The relative expression of both GDNF and GFR?-1 were assessed by Western blotting, and the immunostaining was semiquantitated. Unpaired two-tailed Student t -test or Wilcoxon test was used to identify statistically significant differences (P?0.05) between the groups. RESULTS:Our findings demonstrated that the ganglionic area, neuronal soma size, Abercrombie-corrected number of neurons, and number of SGCs per neuron were similar in nulliparas and primiparas. The relative expression of both GDNF and GFR?-1 was similar. Immunostaining for both GDNF and GFR?-1 was observed in several vaginal layers, and no differences were detected regarding GDNF and GFR?-1 immunostaining between the 2 groups. In the paravaginal ganglia, the expression of GDNF was increased in neurons, while that of GFR?-1 was augmented in the SGCs of primiparous rabbits. CONCLUSIONS:The present findings suggest an ongoing regenerative process related to the recovery of neuronal soma size in the paravaginal ganglia, in which GDNF and GFR?-1 could be involved in cross-talk between neurons and SGCs.
SUBMITTER: Garcia-Villamar V
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5798635 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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