Synaptic Relationships Between Hair Follicle Afferents and Neurons Expressing GABA and Glycine-Like Immunoreactivity in the Spinal Cord of the Rat

September 2002 in “ The Journal of Comparative Neurology ”

A. H. D. Watson, David I. Hughes, Ayoub A. Bazzaz

hair follicle afferents GABA glycine immunoreactivity spinal cord neurons synaptic interactions axo-axonic synapses afferent boutons presynaptic boutons inhibitory neurotransmitters dendrites

Studysummary This study found that in the dorsal horn's lamina III, most afferent boutons form synapses with presynaptic boutons immunoreactive for GABA and/or glycine, influencing sensory pathways. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.

The study investigated the synaptic interactions between hair follicle afferent terminals and neurons expressing GABA and glycine-like immunoreactivity in the spinal cord of rats. It was found that 94% of afferent boutons were postsynaptic at axo-axonic synapses, with 67% of presynaptic boutons being immunoreactive for both GABA and glycine, 24% for GABA alone, and 7% for glycine alone. A small percentage of dendrites postsynaptic to afferent boutons were immunoreactive for inhibitory neurotransmitters, with 3% for both GABA and glycine, 10% for glycine alone, and 87% for neither. The study suggested that glycine might act on dendrites postsynaptic to hair follicle afferent terminals, as these terminals do not express glycine receptors themselves.

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research Relationships Between Hair-Follicle Afferent Axons and Glycine-Immunoreactive Profiles in Cat Spinal Dorsal Horn

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research Relationships Between Hair-Follicle Afferent Terminations and Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase-Containing Boutons in the Cat's Spinal Cord

46 citations , April 1987 in “Brain Research”

This study suggests that hair-follicle afferent axons can be presynaptically inhibited by boutons containing the enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase, which is linked to the synthesis of γ-aminobutyric acid.