Caitlin Baumer-Harrison, Khalid Elsaafien, Dominique N Johnson, Jesus D Peñaloza Aponte, Alan de Araujo, Sagar Patel, Erin Bruce, Scott W Harden, Charles J Frazier, Karen A Scott, Guillaume de Lartigue, Eric G Krause, Annette D de Kloet
Cardiovascular homeostasis is maintained, in part, by neural signals arising from arterial baroreceptors that apprise the brain of blood volume and pressure. Here, we test whether neurons within the nodose ganglia that express angiotensin type-1a receptors (referred to as NGAT1aR ) serve as baroreceptors that differentially influence blood pressure (BP) in male and female mice. Using Agtr1a -Cre mice and Cre-dependent AAVs to direct tdTomato to NGAT1aR , neuroanatomical studies revealed that NGAT1aR receive input from the aortic arch, project to the caudal nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), and synthesize mechanosensitive ion channels, Piezo-1/-2 To evaluate the functionality of NGAT1aR , we directed the fluorescent calcium indicator (GCaMP6s) or the light-sensitive channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) to Agtr1a -containing neurons...
January 19, 2024: Journal of Neuroscience