Optoactivation of Locus Ceruleus Neurons Evokes Bidirectional Changes in Thermal Nociception in Rats

Pontospinal noradrenergic neurons are thought to form part of a descending endogenous analgesic system that exerts inhibitory influences on spinal nociception. Using optogenetic targeting, we tested the hypothesis that excitation of the locus ceruleus (LC) is antinociceptive. We transduced rat LC neurons by direct injection of a lentiviral vector expressing channelrhodopsin2 under the control of the PRS promoter. Subsequent optoactivation of the LC evoked repeatable, robust, antinociceptive (+4.7°C ± 1.0, p < 0.0001) or pronociceptive (−4.4°C ± 0.7, p < 0.0001) changes in hindpaw thermal withdrawal thresholds. Post hoc anatomical characterization of the distribution of transduced somata referenced against the position of the optical fiber and subsequent further functional analysis showed that antinociceptive actions were evoked from a distinct, ventral subpopulation of LC neurons. Therefore, the LC is capable of exerting potent, discrete, bidirectional influences on thermal nociception that are produced by specific subpopulations of noradrenergic neurons. This reflects an underlying functional heterogeneity of the influence of the LC on the processing of nociceptive information.

• Publication year

  2014

• Venue

  Journal of Neuroscience

• Publication date

  2014-03-19

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine, Chemistry

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4835-13.2014PMID 24647936PMCID PMC3960461
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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