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Updated: Mar 8, 2026

An In-vitro Preparation of Isolated Enteric Neurons and Glia from the Myenteric Plexus of the Adult Mouse
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An In-vitro Preparation of Isolated Enteric Neurons and Glia from the Myenteric Plexus of the Adult Mouse

Published on: August 7, 2013

28.9K

Intestinal smooth muscle is required for patterning the enteric nervous system

Hannah K Graham1, Ivy Maina1, Allan M Goldstein1

  • 1Department of Pediatric Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Journal of Anatomy
|January 25, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Early intestinal smooth muscle development is crucial for patterning the enteric nervous system (ENS). Inhibiting muscle development disrupts ENS patterning, showing muscle influences nerve development in the gut.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental biology
  • Neuroscience
  • Gastroenterology

Background:

  • The enteric nervous system (ENS) and intestinal smooth muscle develop concurrently.
  • The precise interplay between ENS and smooth muscle development remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the reciprocal influence between ENS and intestinal smooth muscle development.
  • To determine if ENS or smooth muscle development is a prerequisite for the other.

Main Methods:

  • Studied chick embryo mid-gut and hindgut development.
  • Assessed α-smooth muscle actin expression for muscle differentiation.
  • Examined ENS patterning in aganglionic and muscle-inhibited conditions.

Main Results:

  • Mid-gut muscle differentiation follows enteric neural crest-derived cell (ENCC) arrival; hindgut muscle develops before ENCCs.
  • Smooth muscle development in hindguts is independent of the ENS.
  • Inhibition of early smooth muscle development severely disrupts ENS patterning.

Conclusions:

  • Early intestinal smooth muscle differentiation is essential for proper ENS patterning.
  • Smooth muscle plays a critical role in guiding ENS development, particularly in the mid-gut.
  • The ENS does not appear to be required for initial smooth muscle layer formation.

Keywords:
developmententeric nervous systemgutneural crestsmooth muscle

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