Similar Datasets
Project description:The dorsal horn of the spinal cord transforms incoming somatosensory information and transmits it supraspinally to generate sensory perception, including pain and itch. Recent research using mouse Cre-driver lines has implicated specific populations of dorsal horn neurons in the transmission of different types of pain. In parallel, human genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified dozens of loci confidently associated with the genetic predisposition to chronic pain. The ability to connect controlled experiments in rodent models with human genetic studies could provide a platform for translational research, but the cell type heterogeneity of the dorsal horn and the complex genetic architecture of chronic pain have created challenges in bridging that gap. Here, we apply a variety of single cell genomic technologies and a comparative genomic analysis to identify conserved dorsal horn neuron subtypes whose open chromatin regions show enrichment for genetic variants associated with human chronic pain phenotypes. To achieve this, we first use single nucleus RNA-Seq and fluorescence in situ hybridization in Rhesus macaque to create a more detailed map of primate dorsal horn neuron subtypes. These were integrated with publicly available human and mouse single nucleus RNA-Seq datasets to create a multi-modal cross species atlas. Then, for the mouse dorsal horn, we combined single nucleus RNA-Seq, spatial transcriptomics, and single nucleus ATAC-Seq to infer spatial and epigenomic profiles of conserved dorsal horn neuron subtypes. Finally, we compared our conserved cell-type open chromatin resource to chronic pain GWAS and found that open chromatin regions of specific dorsal horn neuron subtypes showed enrichment for a variety of human chronic pain phenotypes. Our results provide a foundation to further explore how conserved dorsal horn neuron subtypes influence the transmission of pain signals.
2024-08-01 | GSE253951 | GEO
Project description:The dorsal horn of the spinal cord transforms incoming somatosensory information and transmits it supraspinally to generate sensory perception, including pain and itch. Recent research using mouse Cre-driver lines has implicated specific populations of dorsal horn neurons in the transmission of different types of pain. In parallel, human genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified dozens of loci confidently associated with the genetic predisposition to chronic pain. The ability to connect controlled experiments in rodent models with human genetic studies could provide a platform for translational research, but the cell type heterogeneity of the dorsal horn and the complex genetic architecture of chronic pain have created challenges in bridging that gap. Here, we apply a variety of single cell genomic technologies and a comparative genomic analysis to identify conserved dorsal horn neuron subtypes whose open chromatin regions show enrichment for genetic variants associated with human chronic pain phenotypes. To achieve this, we first use single nucleus RNA-Seq and fluorescence in situ hybridization in Rhesus macaque to create a more detailed map of primate dorsal horn neuron subtypes. These were integrated with publicly available human and mouse single nucleus RNA-Seq datasets to create a multi-modal cross species atlas. Then, for the mouse dorsal horn, we combined single nucleus RNA-Seq, spatial transcriptomics, and single nucleus ATAC-Seq to infer spatial and epigenomic profiles of conserved dorsal horn neuron subtypes. Finally, we compared our conserved cell-type open chromatin resource to chronic pain GWAS and found that open chromatin regions of specific dorsal horn neuron subtypes showed enrichment for a variety of human chronic pain phenotypes. Our results provide a foundation to further explore how conserved dorsal horn neuron subtypes influence the transmission of pain signals.
2024-08-01 | GSE253953 | GEO
Project description:The dorsal horn of the spinal cord transforms incoming somatosensory information and transmits it supraspinally to generate sensory perception, including pain and itch. Recent research using mouse Cre-driver lines has implicated specific populations of dorsal horn neurons in the transmission of different types of pain. In parallel, human genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified dozens of loci confidently associated with the genetic predisposition to chronic pain. The ability to connect controlled experiments in rodent models with human genetic studies could provide a platform for translational research, but the cell type heterogeneity of the dorsal horn and the complex genetic architecture of chronic pain have created challenges in bridging that gap. Here, we apply a variety of single cell genomic technologies and a comparative genomic analysis to identify conserved dorsal horn neuron subtypes whose open chromatin regions show enrichment for genetic variants associated with human chronic pain phenotypes. To achieve this, we first use single nucleus RNA-Seq and fluorescence in situ hybridization in Rhesus macaque to create a more detailed map of primate dorsal horn neuron subtypes. These were integrated with publicly available human and mouse single nucleus RNA-Seq datasets to create a multi-modal cross species atlas. Then, for the mouse dorsal horn, we combined single nucleus RNA-Seq, spatial transcriptomics, and single nucleus ATAC-Seq to infer spatial and epigenomic profiles of conserved dorsal horn neuron subtypes. Finally, we compared our conserved cell-type open chromatin resource to chronic pain GWAS and found that open chromatin regions of specific dorsal horn neuron subtypes showed enrichment for a variety of human chronic pain phenotypes. Our results provide a foundation to further explore how conserved dorsal horn neuron subtypes influence the transmission of pain signals.
2024-08-01 | GSE253952 | GEO
Project description:Conserved dorsal horn neuron subtype-specific enhancers are implicated in the genetic risk of chronic pain.
| PRJNA1067985 | ENA
Project description:Conserved dorsal horn neuron subtype-specific enhancers are implicated in the genetic risk of chronic pain [Mouse Xenium]
| PRJNA1067992 | ENA
Project description:Conserved dorsal horn neuron subtype-specific enhancers are implicated in the genetic risk of chronic pain [Macaque snRNA-seq]
| PRJNA1067990 | ENA
Project description:Conserved dorsal horn neuron subtype-specific enhancers are implicated in the genetic risk of chronic pain [Mouse snATAC-seq]
| PRJNA1067989 | ENA
Project description:Persistent mechanical hypersensitivity that occurs in the setting of injury or disease remains a major clinical problem largely because the underlying neural circuitry is still not known. Here we report the functional identification of key components of the elusive dorsal horn circuit for mechanical allodynia. We show that the transient expression of VGLUT3 by a discrete population of neurons in the deep dorsal horn is required for mechanical pain and that activation of the cells in the adult conveys mechanical hypersensitivity. The cells, which receive direct low threshold input, point to a novel location for circuit initiation. Subsequent analysis of c-Fos reveals the circuit extends dorsally to nociceptive lamina I projection neurons, and includes lamina II calretinin neurons, which we show also convey mechanical allodynia. Lastly, using inflammatory and neuropathic pain models, we show that multiple microcircuits in the dorsal horn encode this form of pain.
| S-EPMC4562334 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Neuropathic pain induced by spinal cord injury (SCI) is clinically challenging with inadequate long-term treatment options. Partial pain relief offered by pharmacologic treatment is often counterbalanced by adverse effects after prolonged use in chronic pain patients. Cell-based therapy for neuropathic pain using GABAergic neuronal progenitor cells (NPCs) has the potential to overcome untoward effects of systemic pharmacotherapy while enhancing analgesic potency due to local activation of GABAergic signaling in the spinal cord. However, multifactorial anomalies underlying chronic pain will likely require simultaneous targeting of multiple mechanisms. Here, we explore the analgesic potential of genetically modified rat embryonic GABAergic NPCs releasing a peptidergic NMDA receptor antagonist, Serine-histogranin (SHG), thus targeting both spinal hyperexcitability and reduced inhibitory processes. Recombinant NPCs were designed using either lentiviral or adeno-associated viral vectors (AAV2/8) encoding single and multimeric (6 copies of SHG) cDNA. Intraspinal injection of recombinant cells elicited enhanced analgesic effects compared with nonrecombinant NPCs in SCI-induced pain in rats. Moreover, potent and sustained antinociception was achieved, even after a 5-week postinjury delay, using recombinant multimeric NPCs. Intrathecal injection of SHG antibody attenuated analgesic effects of the recombinant grafts suggesting active participation of SHG in these antinociceptive effects. Immunoblots and immunocytochemical assays indicated ongoing recombinant peptide production and secretion in the grafted host spinal cords. These results support the potential for engineered NPCs grafted into the spinal dorsal horn to alleviate chronic neuropathic pain.
| S-EPMC4938010 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Spinal long-term potentiation (LTP) at C-fiber synapses is hypothesized to underlie chronic pain. However, a causal link between spinal LTP and chronic pain is still lacking. Here, we report that high-frequency stimulation (HFS; 100 Hz, 10 V) of the mouse sciatic nerve reliably induces spinal LTP without causing nerve injury. LTP-inducible stimulation triggers chronic pain lasting for more than 35 days and increases the number of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) terminals in the spinal dorsal horn. The behavioral and morphological changes can be prevented by blocking NMDA receptors, ablating spinal microglia, or conditionally deleting microglial brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). HFS-induced spinal LTP, microglial activation, and upregulation of BDNF are inhibited by antibodies against colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF-1). Together, our results show that microglial CSF1 and BDNF signaling are indispensable for spinal LTP and chronic pain. The microglia-dependent transition of synaptic potentiation to structural alterations in pain pathways may underlie pain chronicity.
| S-EPMC7060767 | biostudies-literature