04/03 – Federico TRIGO : Cerebrospinal-Fluid Contacting Neurons in the mouse spinal cord: a sensory or secretory cell?

SPPIN’s webinar winter-spring 2021, UNUSUAL DATE, UNUSUAL TIME – 4 Mar. at 14h00, online – Ask link to a SPPIN member.

Federico TRIGO, Departamento de Neurofisiología Celular y Molecular Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay

Cerebrospinal Fluid contacting Neurons (CSFcNs) are an enigmatic neuronal population strategically located at the interphase between the cerebrospinal fluid and the spinal cord parenchima. Spinal CSFcNs have a somata that surrounds the central canal and an apical extension, or dendrite, that ends as a bulbous structure within the lumen of the canal, the so-called apical process. These morphological features suggest that CSFcNs are sensory cells whose main function is to bring afferent information about the cerebrospinal fluid composition. Key elements are still lacking, however, in order to understand the physiology of CSFcNs in mammals: a) the physiology of the apical process; b) the details of their axonal projections and the nature of their postsynaptic partners. In this talk I will describe recently obtained data in relation to the physiology of the apical process and some general features of the axonal morphology