Pons and Medulla oblongataPons and medulla oblongata together with midbrain and thalamus are part of the brainstem, which is located in the posterior part of the brain. It is a region of transition between central and peripheral nervous system, containing cell nuclei of majority of cranial nerves from which they are emerging to the spinal cord. The pons and medulla developmentally originate from the third vesicle of neural tube (rhombencephalon). Hox genes orchestrate the segmented organization of spinal cord, pons and medulla and are not expressed in other parts of the brain. Pons facilitates connections between medulla and cerebellum, as well as into the thalamus. Medulla receives inputs from pyramidal tracts originating from the cerebral cortex. These nerves are involved in control of the motoric functions. An important function of pons and medulla is the autonomous control of the body's vital functions. For example the cardiovascular (medulla) centers receive sensory inputs from the heart and blood vessels (mechano-, baro- and chemoreceptors) via the vagus nerve and modulates heart rate and blood pressure. A complex network between antagonistic respiratory (pons & medulla) centers regulates the pattern and rate of the respiratory cycle of inhalation and exhalation.
Figure 1. Schematic drawing of the human brain, indicating the location of pons and medulla from a coronal perspective or sagittal view. The transcriptome analysis shows that 85% (n=16774) of all human protein-coding genes (n=19670) are expressed in the human pons and medulla. Human one-to-one orthologues were investigated in pig and mouse brain, suggesting that 11777 of all mouse one-to-one orthologues (n=15160) are expressed in the mouse pons and medulla and that 12568 of all pig orthologues (n=14656) are expressed in the pig pons and medulla. Gene classification based on regional RNA expression in human, pig and mouse pons and medulla defines 201 genes as pons and medulla enriched in either of the three species, and 34 out of those genes show highest expression levels in pons and medulla in all three species. Neurotransmitter systems in pons and medulla oblongataNoradrenalin Noradrenalin belongs to the monoamine family of neurotransmitters. It is a hormone and neurotransmitter that increases body arousal and reaches high levels during stress (sympathetic system). The locus coeruleus (LC) located near the 4th ventricle, is the major site of Noradrenalin synthesis in the brain. The LC neurons have projections to all regions of the brain, modulating the arousal state of the brain. Example enzymes involved in noradrenalin synthesis and noradrenalin transport can be found below.
Glycine is the simplest amino acid, with the hydrogen atom as a side chain. Acetylcholine Acetylcholine is an excitatory neurotransmitter that in the brain has a role in the arousal, plasticity and reward. The pons and medulla oblongata contain several populations of cholinergic neurons. These include groups of motor neurons that regulate facial expression and eye movements. In addition, the pons contains populations of cholinergic projection neurons that innervate other parts of the brain including thalamus, hypothalamus and midbrain. Regionally elevated expression in humanThe transcriptome analysis shows that 85% (n=16774) of all human proteins (n=19670) are expressed in the Pons and medulla. 393 genes show an elevated expression level in cerebellum compared to other regions of the brain.
Elevated expression in pons and medulla compared to other brain regions is divided into three different categories; regionally enriched (at least four-fold higher mRNA levels in pons and medulla compared to all other regions), group enriched (at least four-fold higher mRNA levels in a group of 2-5 regions) and regionally enhanced (at least four-fold higher mRNA levels in pons and medulla compared to the average of all regions), The number of genes in the individual category is shown in Table 1. In Table 2, the 12 genes with the highest level of regional specificity among the 174 enriched genes are listed. Table 2. The 12 genes with the highest level of enriched expression in human cerebellum. "Predicted localization" shows the classification of each gene into three main classes: Secreted, Membrane, and Intracellular, where the latter consists of genes without any predicted membrane and secreted features. RS-score (Regional Specificity score) corresponds to the score calculated as the fold change to the second highest region.
Regionally elevated expression in mouse
Figure 2. Schematic drawing of the mouse brain, indicating the location of pons and medulla from a coronal perspective or sagittal view. The transcriptome analysis shows that 60% (n=11777) of all mouse one-to-one human orthologue genes (n=15160) are expressed in the pons and medulla and 103 genes show an elevated expression in pons and medulla compared to other regions of the brain. Table 3: Number of genes within the different categories of regionally elevated expression, in mouse pons and medulla
Elevated expression in pons and medulla compared to other brain regions is divided into three different categories; regionally enriched (at least four-fold higher mRNA levels in pons and medulla compared to all other regions), group enriched (at least four-fold higher mRNA levels in a group of 2-5 regions) and regionally enhanced (at least four-fold higher mRNA levels in pons and medulla compared to the average of all regions), The number of genes in the individual category is shown in Table 3. In Table 4, the 12 genes with the highest level of regional specificity among the 39 enriched genes are listed. Table 4: The 12 genes with the highest level of enriched expression in mouse pons and medulla. "Predicted localization" shows the classification of each gene into three main classes: Secreted, Membrane, and Intracellular, where the latter consists of genes without any predicted membrane and secreted features. RS-score (Regional Specificity score) corresponds to the score calculated as the fold change to the second highest region.
Regionally elevated expression in pigThe transcriptome analysis shows that 64% (n=12568) of all pig genes (n=14656) are expressed in pons and medulla and 84 genes show an elevated expression in pons and medulla compared to other regions of the brain. Table 5: Number of genes within the different categories of regionally elevated expression, in pig pons and medulla.
Figure 3. Schematic drawing of the pig brain, indicating the location of pons and medulla from a coronal perspective or sagittal view . Table 6: The 12 genes with the highest level of enriched expression in pig pons and medulla. "Predicted localization" shows the classification of each gene into three main classes: Secreted, Membrane, and Intracellular, where the latter consists of genes without any predicted membrane and secreted features. RS-score (Regional Specificity score) corresponds to the score calculated as the fold change to the second highest region.
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The Project
The Human Protein Atlas
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