Morphological, molecular, and functional characterization of mouse glutamatergic myenteric neurons.

We reveal that VGLUT2-positive enteric neurons (EN), although constituting a small fraction of total EN, are homogeneously expressed in the myenteric ganglia, with a slight concentration at the intermediate region between the colon and rectum. This concentration coincides with the entry zone of extrinsic afferents into the colorectum. Given that VGLUT2-ENs are indirectly activated by colorectal mechanical stretch, they are likely to participate in visceral nociception through glutamatergic neural transmission with extrinsic afferents.