Faculty Collaboration Database

Anterograde tracing of trigeminal afferent pathways from the murine tooth pulp to cortex using herpes simplex virus type 1. J Neurosci 1995 Apr;15(4):2972-84

Date

04/01/1995

Pubmed ID

7536824

Pubmed Central ID

PMC6577775

DOI

10.1523/JNEUROSCI.15-04-02972.1995

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0028915045 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   87 Citations

Abstract

Due to its predominantly nociceptive innervation, viral tracing from the tooth pulp provides a potential means for tracing central pain pathways. The neural pathways from the tooth pulp to cortex were determined using in situ hybridization to detect the anterograde transneuronal spread of herpes simplex virus type 1 strain H129 following inoculation into the murine mandibular incisor pulp. Virus first appeared in the brain at day 3 in the dorsomedial region of all three subnuclei of the spinal trigeminal nucleus and the principal sensory nucleus. By days 5-6 virus had spread to the contralateral medial nucleus of the medial geniculate complex, posterior thalamus, and ventroposteromedial thalamus. At days 7-8 virus was detected in laminae IV and Va of the primary somatosensory cortex and lamina IV of the secondary somatosensory cortex in regions previously shown to receive input from the lower jaw. Several mice also showed infection of laminae II/III of the ipsilateral dysgranular insular cortex, along with labeling for virus in the ipsilateral external lateral parabrachial nucleus, posterior thalamus, and posterior basolateral amygdala. Our results are highly consistent with previous tracing and electrophysiological studies utilizing the tooth pulp and with studies implicating the infected structures in nociception. Viral spread appeared to define two separate afferent systems with infection of structures which have been implicated in the sensory-discriminative aspects of pain, such as the ventroposteromedial thalamus and somatosensory cortex, as well as in the dysgranular insular cortex and related subcortical nuclei which may have a role in the affective-motivational aspects of pain.

Author List

Barnett EM, Evans GD, Sun N, Perlman S, Cassell MD

Author

Edward M. Barnett MD, PhD Professor in the Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Afferent Pathways
Animals
Axonal Transport
Brain
Dental Pulp
Functional Laterality
Geniculate Bodies
Herpesvirus 1, Human
Incisor
Male
Mice
Mice, Inbred BALB C
Organ Specificity
Trigeminal Nerve