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Visualization of the Interstitial Cells of Cajal (ICC) Network in Mice
09:45

Visualization of the Interstitial Cells of Cajal (ICC) Network in Mice

Published on: July 27, 2011

Intercellular coupling among interstitial cells of Cajal in the guinea pig small intestine

V Belzer1, T Kobilo, A Rich

  • 1Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Medicine, Jerusalem, 91240 Israel.

Cell and Tissue Research
|January 26, 2002
PubMed

Insights

Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) in the gut are connected via gap junctions, allowing communication. This coupling is physiologically regulated, particularly by pH levels.

Area of Science:

  • Gastroenterology
  • Cell Biology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Identifying interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) in living gastrointestinal tissues is challenging.
  • ICC are crucial for gut motility and signaling.
  • Previous methods lacked in vivo visualization capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop and validate a method for visualizing ICC in the myenteric plexus (ICC-MP) of the guinea pig ileum.
  • To investigate the functional connectivity (dye coupling) between ICC-MP.
  • To explore the physiological regulation of ICC-MP coupling.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized Nomarski optics for cell visualization in intact guinea pig ileum.
  • Injected fluorescent dye (Lucifer yellow) into ICC-MP.
  • Confirmed ICC identity using c-Kit immunohistochemistry.
  • Assessed dye coupling incidence and effects of octanol and pH.

Main Results:

  • Developed a reliable method to identify and visualize ICC-MP.
  • Found that 24.4% of ICC-MP were dye-coupled to other ICC.
  • Demonstrated that pH significantly modulates ICC-MP coupling: high pH increased coupling (86%), low pH decreased it (1/44).
  • Octanol treatment reduced coupling to 2%.

Conclusions:

  • ICC-MP are interconnected by functional channels, likely gap junctions.
  • These gap junctions facilitate the passage of electrical currents and small molecules.
  • ICC coupling is under physiological control, with pH being a key modulator.

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