Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 29, 2025
10:34
An In-vitro Preparation of Isolated Enteric Neurons and Glia from the Myenteric Plexus of the Adult Mouse
Published on: August 7, 2013
27.0K
Contacting the gut: Mitochondria-associated Endoplasmic Reticulum Membranes in the Enteric Nervous System
Jenny Greig1, Giada Delfino2, Pascal Derkinderen2
1INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Transplantation et Immunologie, UMR 1064, ITUN, Nantes, France.
Contact (Thousand Oaks (Ventura County, Calif.))
|April 8, 2024
Summary
Researchers discovered endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondria connections in gut neurons and found changes in these links in a neurodegeneration model, highlighting the gut-brain axis in disease.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cell Biology
- Gastroenterology
Background:
- Mitochondria-associated ER membrane (MAM) signaling is altered in brain neurodegenerative diseases.
- The gut-brain axis is increasingly recognized for its role in neurodegeneration.
- MAM biology in the enteric nervous system (ENS) remains unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize MAM in the ENS under physiological conditions.
- To investigate MAM dynamics in enteric neurons of an age-related neurodegeneration mouse model.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a mouse model of age-related neurodegeneration.
- Examined endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria connections in enteric neurons.
Main Results:
- Confirmed the existence of ER-mitochondria connections in enteric neurons.
- Observed altered MAM dynamics in enteric neurons from the neurodegeneration model.
- Provided the first detailed characterization of ENS MAM.
Conclusions:
- Enteric MAM plays a role in neurodegenerative disorders.
- MAM alterations in the ENS may contribute to age-related neurodegeneration.
- This study opens new avenues for understanding gut-brain axis involvement in disease.
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