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
- Author:
Verónica GARCÍA-VILLAMAR
1
;
Laura G HERNÁNDEZ-ARAGÓN
;
Jesús R CHÁVEZ-RÍOS
;
Arturo ORTEGA
;
Margarita MARTÍNEZ-GÓMEZ
;
Francisco CASTELÁN
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Pelvic ganglia; Nerve growth factors; Neuronal plasticity; Reproduction; Lower urogenital tract
- MeSH: Blotting, Western; Carisoprodol; Female; Ganglia; Ganglion Cysts; Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; Humans; Nerve Growth Factors; Neuroglia; Neuronal Plasticity; Neurons; Postpartum Period; Rabbits; Reproduction; Vagina
- From:International Neurourology Journal 2018;22(Suppl 1):S23-S33
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: PURPOSE: To evaluate the expression of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and its receptor, GDNF family receptor alpha subunit 1 (GFRα-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 GFRα-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 GFRα-1 was similar. Immunostaining for both GDNF and GFRα-1 was observed in several vaginal layers, and no differences were detected regarding GDNF and GFRα-1 immunostaining between the 2 groups. In the paravaginal ganglia, the expression of GDNF was increased in neurons, while that of GFRα-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 GFRα-1 could be involved in cross-talk between neurons and SGCs.
