RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Ontogeny of Excitatory Spinal Neurons Processing Distinct Somatic Sensory Modalities
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 14738
OP 14748
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5512-12.2013
VO 33
IS 37
A1 Yi Xu
A1 Claudia Lopes
A1 Hagen Wende
A1 Zhen Guo
A1 Leping Cheng
A1 Carmen Birchmeier
A1 Qiufu Ma
YR 2013
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/33/37/14738.abstract
AB Spatial and temporal cues govern the genesis of a diverse array of neurons located in the dorsal spinal cord, including dI1-dI6, dILA, and dILB subtypes, but their physiological functions are poorly understood. Here we generated a new line of conditional knock-out (CKO) mice, in which the homeobox gene Tlx3 was removed in dI5 and dILB cells. In these CKO mice, development of a subset of excitatory neurons located in laminae I and II was impaired, including itch-related GRPR-expressing neurons, PKCγ-expressing neurons, and neurons expressing three neuropeptide genes: somatostatin, preprotachykinin 1, and the gastrin-releasing peptide. These CKO mice displayed marked deficits in generating nocifensive motor behaviors evoked by a range of pain-related or itch-related stimuli. The mutants also failed to exhibit escape response evoked by dynamic mechanical stimuli but retained the ability to sense innocuous cooling and/or warm. Thus, our studies provide new insight into the ontogeny of spinal neurons processing distinct sensory modalities.