neuron pages.NSM

<<< BACK TO LIST IN MoW
IN WB : [Left ] [ Right]
CELL ID << PREVIOUS NEXT >>

CELL TYPE LINEAGE LOCATION NEUROTRANSMITTER ASSOCIATED GLIA

NSML

NSMR

Pharyngeal neurosecretory- motor neuron. Possibly also proprioceptive/mechanosensory.

AB.araapapaav
AB.araapppaav

Pharynx anterior
bulb

Serotonin (Horvitz H. R. et al, 1982; Sze J.Y. et al. 2000).

Glutamate (Lee R.Y.N. et al. 1999).

Express neuropeptide-like proteins, NLP-13, NLP-18, NLP-19 (Nathoo A. et al 2001).
None

DESCRIPTION

NSM cell bodies are located in the pharyngeal subventral nerve cords just anterior to the nerve ring.
These cells are bipolar. Each cell extends one major process which bifurcates near the cell body. One of the branches crosses to the opposite site, turns dorsally within the nerve ring and continues its trajectory posteriorly within the dorsal nerve cord of the isthmus. The other branch runs posteriorly within the subventral nerve cord of the isthmus. These processes run at the most outside edge of the nerve cords, very close to pseudocoelom, and make synapses to the pharyngeal basement membrane and muscle cells. Both processes terminate before reaching the terminal bulb. Within isthmus these processes periodically swell to form varicosities filled with large, lightly- and darkly-staining membrane bound vesicles, as well as small clear vesicles.
Along with these major processes NSM's also have small, synapse-free processes with free endings just under the cuticle of the pharyngeal lumen at the boundary between the corpus and isthmus (where bacteria accumulate). These endings are attached to the adjacent muscle cells by desmosomes and are thought to act as stretch (proprioceptive) receptors. These processes can not be seen at the light microscopic level (therefore not obvious in GFP images below). They have also been omitted from the drawn images below.
The NSM's receive extensive synapses from I2 (see connectivity diagram below) (Albertson D. J. and Thomson J. N., 1976). NSM's are serotonergic but they are also able to take up exogenous serotonin via a serotonin reuptake transporter, MOD-5 (Ranganathan R. et al, 2001).

Functions: Initially suggested to have neurohumoral function signaling the presence of food to the body since NSM's appear secretory by morphology and have processes that run in close apposition to the pseudocoelom over most of their lengths (Albertson D. J. and Thomson J. N., 1976, Avery L, and Thomas J. H., 1997). They were postulated to sense bacteria in their lumen by their proprioceptive endings and transmit this to the rest of the body by secretions to the pseudocoelomic fluid. The presence of food leads to increased pharyngeal pumping, decreased locomotion and increased egg-laying behavior. Exogenous application of serotonin also induces these responses supporting the hypothesis NSM's can function neurohumorally by serotonin secretion. However, ablation of NSM's have only subtle effects on pumping suggesting they may not play any important role in this behavior (Avery L. et al, 1993, Avery L. and Thomas J. H., 1997). When placed on a bacterial lawn, previously food-deprived animals slow down their locomotion to a higher degree compared to well-fed animals. This phenomenon is described as "the enhanced slowing response". When NSM's are ablated there is a small but significant decrease in the enhanced slowing response suggesting NSM's contribute to this behavior (Sawin E. R. et al, 2000).

Receptor expression: Express glutamate receptor subunits, GLR-7 , GLR-8 (Brockie P.J. et al 2001). Express a splice variant of the tyramine receptor SER-2 (Tsalik E. L. et al, 2003). Suggested to express AEX-2, a 7-transmembrane domain protein with homology to the G protein-coupled receptor family (Round E. K. et al, 2002).

CELL	TYPE	LINEAGE	LOCATION	NEUROTRANSMITTER	ASSOCIATED GLIA
NSML NSMR	Pharyngeal neurosecretory- motor neuron. Possibly also proprioceptive/mechanosensory.	AB.araapapaav AB.araapppaav	Pharynx anterior bulb	Serotonin (Horvitz H. R. et al, 1982; Sze J.Y. et al. 2000). Glutamate (Lee R.Y.N. et al. 1999). Express neuropeptide-like proteins, NLP-13, NLP-18, NLP-19 (Nathoo A. et al 2001).	None
DESCRIPTION
NSM cell bodies are located in the pharyngeal subventral nerve cords just anterior to the nerve ring. These cells are bipolar. Each cell extends one major process which bifurcates near the cell body. One of the branches crosses to the opposite site, turns dorsally within the nerve ring and continues its trajectory posteriorly within the dorsal nerve cord of the isthmus. The other branch runs posteriorly within the subventral nerve cord of the isthmus. These processes run at the most outside edge of the nerve cords, very close to pseudocoelom, and make synapses to the pharyngeal basement membrane and muscle cells. Both processes terminate before reaching the terminal bulb. Within isthmus these processes periodically swell to form varicosities filled with large, lightly- and darkly-staining membrane bound vesicles, as well as small clear vesicles. Along with these major processes NSM's also have small, synapse-free processes with free endings just under the cuticle of the pharyngeal lumen at the boundary between the corpus and isthmus (where bacteria accumulate). These endings are attached to the adjacent muscle cells by desmosomes and are thought to act as stretch (proprioceptive) receptors. These processes can not be seen at the light microscopic level (therefore not obvious in GFP images below). They have also been omitted from the drawn images below. The NSM's receive extensive synapses from I2 (see connectivity diagram below) (Albertson D. J. and Thomson J. N., 1976). NSM's are serotonergic but they are also able to take up exogenous serotonin via a serotonin reuptake transporter, MOD-5 (Ranganathan R. et al, 2001). Functions: Initially suggested to have neurohumoral function signaling the presence of food to the body since NSM's appear secretory by morphology and have processes that run in close apposition to the pseudocoelom over most of their lengths (Albertson D. J. and Thomson J. N., 1976, Avery L, and Thomas J. H., 1997). They were postulated to sense bacteria in their lumen by their proprioceptive endings and transmit this to the rest of the body by secretions to the pseudocoelomic fluid. The presence of food leads to increased pharyngeal pumping, decreased locomotion and increased egg-laying behavior. Exogenous application of serotonin also induces these responses supporting the hypothesis NSM's can function neurohumorally by serotonin secretion. However, ablation of NSM's have only subtle effects on pumping suggesting they may not play any important role in this behavior (Avery L. et al, 1993, Avery L. and Thomas J. H., 1997). When placed on a bacterial lawn, previously food-deprived animals slow down their locomotion to a higher degree compared to well-fed animals. This phenomenon is described as "the enhanced slowing response". When NSM's are ablated there is a small but significant decrease in the enhanced slowing response suggesting NSM's contribute to this behavior (Sawin E. R. et al, 2000). Receptor expression: Express glutamate receptor subunits, GLR-7 , GLR-8 (Brockie P.J. et al 2001). Express a splice variant of the tyramine receptor SER-2 (Tsalik E. L. et al, 2003). Suggested to express AEX-2, a 7-transmembrane domain protein with homology to the G protein-coupled receptor family (Round E. K. et al, 2002).