Browsing by Subject "Nociceptors"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    A craniofacial-specific monosynaptic circuit enables heightened affective pain.
    (Nature neuroscience, 2017-12) Rodriguez, Erica; Sakurai, Katsuyasu; Xu, Jennie; Chen, Yong; Toda, Koji; Zhao, Shengli; Han, Bao-Xia; Ryu, David; Yin, Henry; Liedtke, Wolfgang; Wang, Fan
    Humans often rank craniofacial pain as more severe than body pain. Evidence suggests that a stimulus of the same intensity induces stronger pain in the face than in the body. However, the underlying neural circuitry for the differential processing of facial versus bodily pain remains unknown. Interestingly, the lateral parabrachial nucleus (PBL), a critical node in the affective pain circuit, is activated more strongly by noxious stimulation of the face than of the hindpaw. Using a novel activity-dependent technology called CANE developed in our laboratory, we identified and selectively labeled noxious-stimulus-activated PBL neurons and performed comprehensive anatomical input-output mapping. Surprisingly, we uncovered a hitherto uncharacterized monosynaptic connection between cranial sensory neurons and the PBL-nociceptive neurons. Optogenetic activation of this monosynaptic craniofacial-to-PBL projection induced robust escape and avoidance behaviors and stress calls, whereas optogenetic silencing specifically reduced facial nociception. The monosynaptic circuit revealed here provides a neural substrate for heightened craniofacial affective pain.
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    Nociceptor-Enriched Genes Required for Normal Thermal Nociception.
    (Cell reports, 2016-07) Honjo, Ken; Mauthner, Stephanie E; Wang, Yu; Skene, JH Pate; Tracey, W Daniel
    Here, we describe a targeted reverse genetic screen for thermal nociception genes in Drosophila larvae. Using laser capture microdissection and microarray analyses of nociceptive and non-nociceptive neurons, we identified 275 nociceptor-enriched genes. We then tested the function of the enriched genes with nociceptor-specific RNAi and thermal nociception assays. Tissue-specific RNAi targeted against 14 genes caused insensitive thermal nociception while targeting of 22 genes caused hypersensitive thermal nociception. Previously uncategorized genes were named for heat resistance (i.e., boilerman, fire dancer, oven mitt, trivet, thawb, and bunker gear) or heat sensitivity (firelighter, black match, eucalyptus, primacord, jet fuel, detonator, gasoline, smoke alarm, and jetboil). Insensitive nociception phenotypes were often associated with severely reduced branching of nociceptor neurites and hyperbranched dendrites were seen in two of the hypersensitive cases. Many genes that we identified are conserved in mammals.
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    TRPV channel-mediated calcium transients in nociceptor neurons are dispensable for avoidance behaviour.
    (Nat Commun, 2014-09-02) Lindy, Amanda S; Parekh, Puja K; Zhu, Richard; Kanju, Patrick; Chintapalli, Sree V; Tsvilovskyy, Volodymyr; Patterson, Randen L; Anishkin, Andriy; van Rossum, Damian B; Liedtke, Wolfgang B
    Animals need to sense and react to potentially dangerous environments. TRP ion channels participate in nociception, presumably via Ca(2+) influx, in most animal species. However, the relationship between ion permeation and animals' nocifensive behaviour is unknown. Here we use an invertebrate animal model with relevance for mammalian pain. We analyse the putative selectivity filter of OSM-9, a TRPV channel, in osmotic avoidance behaviour of Caenorhabditis elegans. Using mutagenized OSM-9 expressed in the head nociceptor neuron, ASH, we study nocifensive behaviour and Ca(2+) influx. Within the selectivity filter, M(601)-F(609), Y604G strongly reduces avoidance behaviour and eliminates Ca(2+) transients. Y604F also abolishes Ca(2+) transients in ASH, while sustaining avoidance behaviour, yet it disrupts behavioral plasticity. Homology modelling of the OSM-9 pore suggests that Y(604) may assume a scaffolding role. Thus, aromatic residues in the OSM-9 selectivity filter are critical for pain behaviour and ion permeation. These findings have relevance for understanding evolutionary roots of mammalian nociception.