Peripheral nervous system articles within Nature Communications

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• Article | 19 February 2013

  Parasympathetic stimulation improves epithelial organ regeneration

  Irradiation treatment for cancer therapy often causes irreparable damage to adult organs. Knox and colleagues study irradiated mouse submandibular salivary glands and find that restoring parasympathetic nerve function with the neurotrophic factor neurturin improves regeneration.

  • Sarah M. Knox
  • , Isabelle M. A. Lombaert
  •  & Matthew P. Hoffman

• Article | 12 February 2013

  Bacteroides fragilis polysaccharide A is necessary and sufficient for acute activation of intestinal sensory neurons

  Commensal bacteria in gut lumen are known to interact with the enteric nervous system. Mao and colleagues test the effects of Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Bacteroides fragilis ex vivo, in the myenteric plexus, and find that the polysaccharide A is necessary for intestinal sensory neuron sensitization.

  • Yu-Kang Mao
  • , Dennis L. Kasper
  •  & Wolfgang A. Kunze