BackgroundInflammatory bowel diseases, encompassing Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, are characterised by persistent leucocyte tissue infiltration leading to perpetuation of an inappropriate inflammatory cascade. The neuronal guidance molecule netrin-1 has recently been implicated in the orchestration of leucocyte trafficking during acute inflammation. We therefore hypothesised that netrin-1 could modulate leucocyte infiltration and disease activity in a model of inflammatory bowel disease.DesignDSS-colitis was performed in mice with partial genetic netrin-1 deficiency (Ntn-1+/− mice) or wild-type mice treated with exogenous netrin-1 via osmotic pump to examine the role of endogenous and therapeutically administered netrin-1. These studies were supported by in vitro models of transepithelial migration and intestinal epithelial barrier function.ResultsConsistent with our hypothesis, we observed induction of netrin-1 during intestinal inflammation in vitro or in mice exposed to experimental colitis. Moreover, mice with partial netrin-1 deficiency demonstrated an exacerbated course of DSS-colitis compared to littermate controls, with enhanced weight loss and colonic shortening. Conversely, mice treated with exogenous mouse netrin-1 experienced attenuated disease severity. Importantly, permeability studies and quantitative assessment of apoptosis reveal that netrin-1 signalling events do not alter mucosal permeability or intestinal epithelial cell apoptosis. In vivo studies of leucocyte transmigration demonstrate suppression of neutrophil trafficking as a key function mediated by endogenous or exogenously administered netrin-1. Finally, genetic studies implicate the A2B adenosine receptor in netrin-1-mediated protection during DSS-colitis.ConclusionsThe present study identifies a previously unrecognised role for netrin-1 in attenuating experimental colitis through limitation of neutrophil trafficking.

Taste buds are unusual in requiring ATP as a transmitter to activate sensory nerve fibers. In response to taste stimuli, taste cells release ATP, activating purinergic receptors containing the P2X2 and P2X3 subunits on taste nerves. In turn, the released ATP is hydrolyzed to ADP by a plasma membrane nucleoside triphosphate previously identified as nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-2 (NTPDase2). In this paper we investigate the role of this ectonucleotidase in the function of taste buds by examining gene-targeted Entpd2-null mice globally lacking NTPDase2. RT-PCR confirmed the absence of NTPDase2, and ATPase enzyme histochemistry reveals no reaction product in taste buds of knockout mice, suggesting that NTPDase2 is the dominant form in taste buds. RT-PCR and immunocytochemistry demonstrated that in knockout mice all cell types are present in taste buds, even those cells normally expressing NTPDase2. In addition, the overall number and size of taste buds are normal in Entpd2-null mice. Luciferin/luciferase assays of circumvallate tissue of knockout mice detected elevated levels of extracellular ATP. Electrophysiological recordings from two taste nerves, the chorda tympani and glossopharyngeal, revealed depressed responses to all taste stimuli in Entpd2-null mice. Responses were more depressed in the glossopharyngeal nerve than in the chorda tympani nerve and involved all taste qualities; responses in the chorda tympani were more depressed to sweet and umami stimuli than to other qualities. We suggest that the excessive levels of extracellular ATP in the Entpd2-knockout animals desensitize the P2X receptors associated with nerve fibers, thereby depressing taste responses.purinergic signaling | synaptic function | E-NTPDase | mouse | gustatory T aste buds, the sensory end organs of gustation, are unique among the special senses in using ATP as a key transmitter to activate their sensory nerve fibers (1). The gustatory nerves express the purinergic receptor subunits P2X2 and P2X3 (2), which rapidly depolarize the nerve terminal when exposed to ATP. An important feature of neurotransmission is the removal of transmitter from extracellular space to prevent desensitization of the receptors by prolonged exposure to the ligand. In the case of taste buds, removal of ATP is accomplished largely by one of the eight known ectonucleotidases (for a review, see ref.3), nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-2 (NTPDase2), a highly specific nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase (4, 5), which preferentially degrades ATP over ADP (6), (i.e., an ectoATPase, as defined histochemically by specificity for ATP).The NTPDase of taste buds is expressed by only one of the three principal types of cells within the bud. Each taste bud contains an onion-shaped cluster of 50-100 elongate taste cells, comprising morphologically and molecularly distinct cell types (for review, see ref. 7): type I, type II, and type III. The detection and transduction of different tastants is accomplished by type II and type III cells (for review...

The relative contribution, to brain cholinergic signaling, by synaptic-and diffusion-based mechanisms remains to be elucidated. In this study, we examined the prevalence of fast nicotinic signaling in the hippocampus. We describe a mouse model where cholinergic axons are labeled with the tauGFP fusion protein driven by the choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) promoter. The model provides for the visualization of individual cholinergic axons at greater resolution than other available models and techniques, even in thick, live, slices. Combining calcium imaging and electrophysiology, we demonstrate that local stimulation of visualized cholinergic fibers results in rapid EPSCs mediated by the activation of α7-subunit containing nicotinic receptors (α7-nAChRs) on CA3 pyramidal neurons. These responses were blocked by the α7-nAChR antagonist methyllycaconitine (MLA) and potentiated by the receptor specific allosteric modulator 1-(5-chloro-2,4-dimethoxy-phenyl)-3-(5-methyl-isoxanol-3-yl)-urea (PNU-120596).Our results suggest, for the first time, that synaptic nAChRs can modulate pyramidal cell plasticity and development. Fast nicotinic transmission might play a greater role in cholinergic signaling than previously assumed. We provide a model for the examination of synaptic properties of basal forebrain cholinergic innervation in the brain.