AI Article Synopsis

  • Nociceptors in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons detect pain, and Veratridine (VTD) is a compound used to study voltage-gated sodium channels in these neurons.
  • Research characterized calcium responses to VTD in mouse DRG neurons, revealing diversity among sensory neuron subpopulations, with about 70% reacting to specific VTD concentrations.
  • Four distinct VTD response profiles were identified, correlating with neuron size and responses to other pain-related markers, suggesting these profiles can help understand ion channel activity in sensory neurons.

Article Abstract

Nociceptors are a subpopulation of dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons that detect noxious stimuli and signal pain. Veratridine (VTD) is a voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC) modifier that is used as an "agonist" in functional screens for VGSC blockers. However, there is very little information on VTD response profiles in DRG neurons and how they relate to neuronal subtypes. Here we characterised VTD-induced calcium responses in cultured mouse DRG neurons. Our data shows that the heterogeneity of VTD responses reflects distinct subpopulations of sensory neurons. About 70% of DRG neurons respond to 30-100 μM VTD. We classified VTD responses into four profiles based upon their response shape. VTD response profiles differed in their frequency of occurrence and correlated with neuronal size. Furthermore, VTD response profiles correlated with responses to the algesic markers capsaicin, AITC and α, β-methylene ATP. Since VTD response profiles integrate the action of several classes of ion channels and exchangers, they could act as functional "reporters" for the constellation of ion channels/exchangers expressed in each sensory neuron. Therefore our findings are relevant to studies and screens using VTD to activate DRG neurons.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5364547PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep45221DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

response profiles
20
drg neurons
20
vtd response
16
vtd
9
dorsal root
8
root ganglia
8
vtd responses
8
neurons
7
response
6
profiles
6

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!