Types of Neurons in the Myenteric Plexus of Human Gastric Corpus Identified by Multi-Layer Immunohistochemical Coding and Vagal Tracing.
- 1College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
- 2Department of Psychological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.
Abstract
Background
Enteric neurons regulate motility, secretion, blood flow, and immune function of the gut. Characterizing neuron types is essential for understanding how the enteric nervous system works and how it goes wrong in disease.Methods
We examined the myenteric plexus of the human gastric corpus from surgical specimens. Multiplexed immunohistochemistry assessed 15 markers, including pan-neuronal (HuC/D), neurotransmitter-related enzymes, nitric oxide synthase (NOS), choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT), the transmitter serotonin (by 5-HT accumulation), neuropeptides substance P (SP), enkephalin (ENK), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), somatostatin (SOM), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), neuropeptide Y (NPY), calcium-binding proteins calbindin (Calb), calretinin (Calret) and the structural protein neurofilament 200 (NF200). These markers were applied to 1084 myenteric neurons from the gastric corpus of 7 individuals. Biotinamide tracing was used to label axons from intramural vagal nerve branches visible at the edge of the preparation.Key results
Twelve classes of enteric neurons were distinguished by significant associations between immunohistochemical markers ("chemical coding"), including motor neurons and likely interneurons, secretomotor, and vasomotor neurons. Dense clusters of axonal varicosities ("baskets") labeled by VAChT, ENK, SP, or TH were abundant around ChAT+ myenteric cell bodies but disproportionately scarce around NOS+ cells. Vagal baskets labeled by biotinamide did not show an overall preference for either NOS+ or ChAT+ cells.Conclusions
Multiple types of human gastric myenteric neurons can be distinguished by their immunohistochemical profiles. Vagal efferent pathways are associated with all classes of myenteric neurons in the gastric corpus, whereas some enteric pathways likely exhibit selective connectivity with integrative potential.
Related
- No Female Germline Stem Cells Were Identified by Advanced Dual Recombinase-Based Lineage Tracing System.
- Case Report: Synchronous gastric glomus tumor and gastrointestinal stromal tumor identified in the same gastric region
- Effects of Acute and Chronic Hyperglycemia on Neurotrophic Factors in the Gut: GDNF and NT3 Expression in Myenteric Ganglia
- PD-1 and PD-L1 Expression in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Paired Immunohistochemical Study
- Immunohistochemical Expression of M30, BCL-2, BAX, and Ki-67 in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: Association with Clinicopathological Features
BibTeX
@article{johnson2026types,
title = {{Types of Neurons in the Myenteric Plexus of Human Gastric Corpus Identified by Multi-Layer Immunohistochemical Coding and Vagal Tracing.}},
author = {M E Johnson and M Wee and B N Chen and A Humenick and R A Peterson and W P Yew and T J Hibberd and D A Wattchow and L Kow and T L Powley and S J H Brookes},
journal = {Neurogastroenterology and motility},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1111/nmo.70460},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42851248},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Types of Neurons in the Myenteric Plexus of Human Gastric Corpus Identified by Multi-Layer Immunohistochemical Coding and Vagal Tracing.
AU - M E Johnson
AU - M Wee
AU - B N Chen
AU - A Humenick
AU - R A Peterson
AU - W P Yew
AU - T J Hibberd
AU - D A Wattchow
AU - L Kow
AU - T L Powley
AU - S J H Brookes
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Neurogastroenterology and motility
DO - 10.1111/nmo.70460
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42851248
AB - Background Enteric neurons regulate motility, secretion, blood flow, and immune function of the gut. Characterizing neuron types is essential for understanding how the enteric nervous system works and how it goes wrong in disease.Methods We examined the myenteric plexus of the human gastric corpus from surgical specimens. Multiplexed immunohistochemistry assessed 15 markers, including pan-neuronal (HuC/D), neurotransmitter-related enzymes, nitric oxide synthase (NOS), choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT), the transmitter serotonin (by 5-HT accumulation), neuropeptides substance P (SP), enkephalin (ENK), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), somatostatin (SOM), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), neuropeptide Y (NPY), calcium-binding proteins calbindin (Calb), calretinin (Calret) and the structural protein neurofilament 200 (NF200). These markers were applied to 1084 myenteric neurons from the gastric corpus of 7 individuals. Biotinamide tracing was used to label axons from intramural vagal nerve branches visible at the edge of the preparation.Key results Twelve classes of enteric neurons were distinguished by significant associations between immunohistochemical markers ("chemical coding"), including motor neurons and likely interneurons, secretomotor, and vasomotor neurons. Dense clusters of axonal varicosities ("baskets") labeled by VAChT, ENK, SP, or TH were abundant around ChAT+ myenteric cell bodies but disproportionately scarce around NOS+ cells. Vagal baskets labeled by biotinamide did not show an overall preference for either NOS+ or ChAT+ cells.Conclusions Multiple types of human gastric myenteric neurons can be distinguished by their immunohistochemical profiles. Vagal efferent pathways are associated with all classes of myenteric neurons in the gastric corpus, whereas some enteric pathways likely exhibit selective connectivity with integrative potential.
SN - 1350-1925
SN - 1365-2982
ER -