title: The Cellular and Synaptic Architecture of the Mechanosensory Dorsal Horn.
abstract: The deep dorsal horn is a poorly characterized spinal cord region implicated in processing low-threshold mechanoreceptor (LTMR) information. We report an array of mouse genetic tools for defining neuronal components and functions of the dorsal horn LTMR-recipient zone (LTMR-RZ), a role for LTMR-RZ processing in tactile perception, and the basic logic of LTMR-RZ organization. We found an unexpectedly high degree of neuronal diversity in the LTMR-RZ: seven excitatory and four inhibitory subtypes of interneurons exhibiting unique morphological, physiological, and synaptic properties. Remarkably, LTMRs form synapses on between four and 11 LTMR-RZ interneuron subtypes, while each LTMR-RZ interneuron subtype samples inputs from at least one to three LTMR classes, as well as spinal cord interneurons and corticospinal neurons. Thus, the LTMR-RZ is a somatosensory processing region endowed with a neuronal complexity that rivals the retina and functions to pattern the activity of ascending touch pathways that underlie tactile perception.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Victoria E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Abraira
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Neuroscience Training Program, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Emily D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Kuehn
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Anda M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Chirila
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Mark W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Springel
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Alexis A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Toliver
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Amanda L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Orefice
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK.
authors.forename: Kieran A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Boyle
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Neuroscience Training Program, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Bryan J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Karleena A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Bashista
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhuo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Connie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tsan
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hoynoski
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02453, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rutlin
authors.affiliation: The Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kus
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Niederkofler
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo 060-8638, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Dymecki
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02453, USA.
authors.forename: Sacha B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: The Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA.
authors.forename: Nathaniel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Heintz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK.
authors.forename: David I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: david_ginty@hms.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: David D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Ginty
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000378:metabolism; D003712:Dendrites / Q000378:metabolism; D007395:Interneurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008967:Molecular Biology / Q000379:methods; D009434:Neural Pathways; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D013569:Synapses; D055698:Touch Perception
keywords: low-threshold mechanoreceptors; mouse molecular genetics; somatosensation; spinal cord dorsal horn; spinal cord interneurons; synaptic connectivity