Large Scale Recording of Sensory Neuron Activity with GCaMP6.

Greater emphasis on the study of intact cellular networks in their physiological environment has led to rapid advances in intravital imaging of the central nervous system (CNS), while the peripheral system remains largely unexplored. To assess large networks of sensory neurons, we selectively label primary afferents with GCaMP6s in male and female C57bl/6 mice and visualize their functional responses to peripheral stimulation . We show that we are able to monitor the activity of hundreds of sensory neurons simultaneously, with sufficient sensitivity to detect, in most cases, single action potentials with a typical rise time of around 200 ms, and an exponential decay with a time constant of approximately 700 ms.

HDAC4 is required for inflammation-associated thermal hypersensitivity.

Transcriptional alterations are characteristic of persistent pain states, but the key regulators remain elusive. HDAC4 is a transcriptional corepressor that has been linked to synaptic plasticity and neuronal excitability, mechanisms that may be involved in peripheral and central sensitization. Using a conditional knockout (cKO) strategy in mice, we sought to determine whether the loss of HDAC4 would have implications for sensory neuron transcription and nociception.