Anatomical and functional maturation of the mid-gestation human enteric nervous system

Lori B Dershowitz; Li Li; Anca M Pasca; Julia A Kaltschmidt

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-38293-z

Anatomical and functional maturation of the mid-gestation human enteric nervous system

Nat Commun. 2023 May 9;14(1):2680. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-38293-z.

Authors

Lori B Dershowitz^{1

2}, Li Li³, Anca M Pasca⁴, Julia A Kaltschmidt^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
² Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
³ Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA. apasca@stanford.edu.
⁵ Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA. jukalts@stanford.edu.
⁶ Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA. jukalts@stanford.edu.

Abstract

Immature gastrointestinal motility impedes preterm infant survival. The enteric nervous system controls gastrointestinal motility, yet it is unknown when the human enteric nervous system matures enough to carry out vital functions. Here we demonstrate that the second trimester human fetal enteric nervous system takes on a striped organization akin to the embryonic mouse. Further, we perform ex vivo functional assays of human fetal tissue and find that human fetal gastrointestinal motility matures in a similar progression to embryonic mouse gastrointestinal motility. Together, this provides critical knowledge, which facilitates comparisons with common animal models to advance translational disease investigations and testing of pharmacological agents to enhance gastrointestinal motility in prematurity.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Biological Assay
Enteric Nervous System*
Fetus
Gastrointestinal Motility
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Infant, Premature*
Mice

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding