| First Author | Xu Y | Year | 2013 |
| Journal | J Neurosci | Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 37 | Pages | 14738-48 |
| PubMed ID | 24027274 | Mgi Jnum | J:201733 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5515645 | Doi | 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5512-12.2013 |
| Citation | Xu Y, et al. (2013) Ontogeny of excitatory spinal neurons processing distinct somatic sensory modalities. J Neurosci 33(37):14738-48 |
| abstractText | Spatial and temporal cues govern the genesis of a diverse array of neurons located in the dorsal spinal cord, including dI1-dI6, dIL(A), and dIL(B) 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 dIL(B) 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, PKCgamma-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. |
