title: Semi-intact ex vivo approach to investigate spinal somatosensory circuits.
abstract: The somatosensory input that gives rise to the perceptions of pain, itch, cold and heat are initially integrated in the superficial dorsal horn of the spinal cord. Here, we describe a new approach to investigate these neural circuits in mouse. This semi-intact somatosensory preparation enables recording from spinal output neurons, while precisely controlling somatosensory input, and simultaneously manipulating specific populations of spinal interneurons. Our findings suggest that spinal interneurons show distinct temporal and spatial tuning properties. We also show that modality selectivity - mechanical, heat and cold - can be assessed in both retrogradely labeled spinoparabrachial projection neurons and genetically labeled spinal interneurons. Finally, we demonstrate that interneuron connectivity can be determined via optogenetic activation of specific interneuron subtypes. This new approach may facilitate key conceptual advances in our understanding of the spinal somatosensory circuits in health and disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States.|Pittsburgh Center for Pain Research, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States.
authors.forename: Junichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hachisuka
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States.|Pittsburgh Center for Pain Research, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States.
authors.forename: Kyle M
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0437-9209
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Baumbauer
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States.|Pittsburgh Center for Pain Research, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Omori
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States.|Pittsburgh Center for Pain Research, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States.
authors.forename: Lindsey M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Snyder
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States.|Pittsburgh Center for Pain Research, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States.
authors.forename: H Richard
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Koerber
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States.|Pittsburgh Center for Pain Research, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States.
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2593-3133
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Ross
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007395:Interneurons / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D009415:Nerve Net; D009482:Neurophysiology / Q000379:methods*; D012677:Sensation; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: dorsal horn; itch; mouse; neuroscience; optogenetics; pain; somatosensation; spinal cord