We explored a novel effect of 5-hydroxytryptamine 4 receptor (5-HT4R) agonists in vivo to reconstruct the enteric neural circuitry that mediates a fundamental distal gut reflex. The neural circuit insult was performed in guinea pigs and rats by rectal transection and anastomosis. A 5-HT4R-agonist, mosapride citrate (MOS) applied orally and locally at the anastomotic site for 2 weeks promoted the regeneration of the impaired neural circuit or the recovery of the distal gut reflex. MOS generated neurofilament-, 5-HT4R- and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine-positive cells and formed neural network in the granulation tissue at the anastomosis. Possible neural stem cell markers increased during the same time period. These novel actions by MOS were inhibited by specific 5-HT4R-antagonist such as GR113808 (GR) or SB-207266. The activation of enteric neural 5-HT4R promotes reconstruction of an enteric neural circuit that involves possibly neural stem cells. We also succeeded in forming dense enteric neural networks by MOS in a gut differentiated from mouse embryonic stem cells. GR abolished the formation of enteric neural networks. MOS up-regulated the expression of mRNA of 5-HT4R, and GR abolished this upregulation, suggesting MOS differentiated enteric neural networks, mediated via activation of 5-HT4R. In the small intestine in H-line: Thy1 promoter green fluorescent protein (GFP) mice, we obtained clear 3-dimensional imaging of enteric neurons that were newly generated by oral application of MOS after gut transection and anastomosis. All findings indicate that treatment with 5-HT4R-agonists could be a novel therapy for generating new enteric neurons to rescue aganglionic disorders in the whole gut.
Keywords: 5-HT4 receptors; Enteric nervous system; Mosapride; Proto-oncogene proteins c-ret; Serotonin.