title: Transcriptional profiling at whole population and single cell levels reveals somatosensory neuron molecular diversity.
abstract: The somatosensory nervous system is critical for the organism's ability to respond to mechanical, thermal, and nociceptive stimuli. Somatosensory neurons are functionally and anatomically diverse but their molecular profiles are not well-defined. Here, we used transcriptional profiling to analyze the detailed molecular signatures of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) sensory neurons. We used two mouse reporter lines and surface IB4 labeling to purify three major non-overlapping classes of neurons: 1) IB4(+)SNS-Cre/TdTomato(+), 2) IB4(-)SNS-Cre/TdTomato(+), and 3) Parv-Cre/TdTomato(+) cells, encompassing the majority of nociceptive, pruriceptive, and proprioceptive neurons. These neurons displayed distinct expression patterns of ion channels, transcription factors, and GPCRs. Highly parallel qRT-PCR analysis of 334 single neurons selected by membership of the three populations demonstrated further diversity, with unbiased clustering analysis identifying six distinct subgroups. These data significantly increase our knowledge of the molecular identities of known DRG populations and uncover potentially novel subsets, revealing the complexity and diversity of those neurons underlying somatosensation.
authors.affiliation: F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States.
authors.forename: Isaac M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States.
authors.forename: Lee B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States.
authors.forename: Erika K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States.
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Strochlic
authors.affiliation: F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States.
authors.forename: Seungkyu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, United States.
authors.forename: Andy D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Weyer
authors.affiliation: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States.
authors.forename: Shan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.affiliation: F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States.
authors.forename: Gregory S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Bryman
authors.affiliation: F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States.
authors.forename: David P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Roberson
authors.affiliation: F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States.
authors.forename: Nader
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ghasemlou
authors.affiliation: F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States.
authors.forename: Cara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Piccoli
authors.affiliation: F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States.
authors.forename: Ezgi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ahat
authors.affiliation: F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States.
authors.forename: Enrique J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Cobos
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, United States.
authors.forename: Cheryl L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Stucky
authors.affiliation: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States.
authors.forename: Qiufu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States.
authors.forename: Stephen D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Liberles
authors.affiliation: F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States.
authors.forename: Clifford J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Woolf
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002469:Cell Separation; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D051379:Mice; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
keywords: DRG; evolutionary biology; genomics; mouse; neuroscience; nociception; peripheral nervous system; proprioception; somatosensation; transcriptome