Transcriptional profiling at whole population and single cell levels reveals somatosensory neuron molecular diversity

  • Isaac M Chiu
    F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States
  • Lee B Barrett
    F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States
  • Erika K Williams
    Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
  • David E Strochlic
    Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
  • Seungkyu Lee
    F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States
  • Andy D Weyer
    Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, United States
  • Shan Lou
    Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
  • Gregory S Bryman
    F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States
  • David P Roberson
    F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States
  • Nader Ghasemlou
    F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States
  • Cara Piccoli
    F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States
  • Ezgi Ahat
    F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States
  • Victor Wang
    F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States
  • Enrique J Cobos
    F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States
  • Cheryl L Stucky
    Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, United States
  • Qiufu Ma
    Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
  • Stephen D Liberles
    Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
  • Clifford J Woolf
    F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, United States

Description

<jats:p>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.</jats:p>

Journal

  • eLife

    eLife 3 e04660-, 2014-12-19

    eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd

Citations (2)*help

See more

Report a problem

Back to top