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Papers of the Week


Papers: 6 Jul 2019 - 12 Jul 2019


Animal Studies


2019 Jul 09


Cell Rep


28


2

Editor's Pick

Defining a Spinal Microcircuit that Gates Myelinated Afferent Input: Implications for Tactile Allodynia.

Authors

Boyle KA, Gradwell MA, Yasaka T, Dickie AC, Polgár E, Ganley RP, Orr DPH, Watanabe M, Abraira VE, Kuehn ED, Zimmerman AL, Ginty DD, Callister RJ, Graham BA, Hughes DI
Cell Rep. 2019 Jul 09; 28(2):526-540.e6.
PMID: 31291586.

Abstract

Chronic pain presents a major unmet clinical problem. The development of more effective treatments is hindered by our limited understanding of the neuronal circuits underlying sensory perception. Here, we show that parvalbumin (PV)-expressing dorsal horn interneurons modulate the passage of sensory information conveyed by low-threshold mechanoreceptors (LTMRs) directly via presynaptic inhibition and also gate the polysynaptic relay of LTMR input to pain circuits by inhibiting lamina II excitatory interneurons whose axons project into lamina I. We show changes in the functional properties of these PV interneurons following peripheral nerve injury and that silencing these cells unmasks a circuit that allows innocuous touch inputs to activate pain circuits by increasing network activity in laminae I-IV. Such changes are likely to result in the development of tactile allodynia and could be targeted for more effective treatment of mechanical pain.