Journal
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 4, Issue 9, Pages 927-930Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/nn0901-927
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Funding
- NHLBI NIH HHS [R01 HL040959, R01 HL040959-12, HL40959] Funding Source: Medline
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The normal breathing rhythm in mammals is hypothesized to be generated by neurokinin-1 receptor(NK1R)-expressing neurons in the preBotzinger complex (preBotc), a medullary region proposed to contain the kernel of the circuits generating respiration. If this hypothesis is correct, then complete destruction of preBotC NK1R neurons should severely perturb and perhaps even fatally arrest breathing. Here we show that specific and near complete bilateral (but not unilateral) destruction of preBotC NK1R neurons results in both an ataxic breathing pattern with markedly altered blood gases and pH, and pathological responses to challenges such as hyperoxia, hypoxia and anesthesia. Thus, these similar to 600 neurons seem necessary for the generation of normal breathing in rats.
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