(Press-News.org) Scientists have for the first time established a sensory neuron model able to mass-reproduce two key sensory neuron types involved in pain sensation, enabling the easy generation of large numbers of the cells to fast-track chronic pain research.
In research applications usually sensory neurons need to be isolated from animals. They represent a wide variety of different cell types, making it difficult to collect and isolate large quantities of pain sensing neurons.
Using a new technique, researchers at Flinders University have found a way to reproduce millions of the cells, providing ample resources for the simultaneous testing of thousands of samples or potential drug libraries.
"Our model replicates sensory neurons found in bundles called dorsal root ganglia next to the spinal cord. These house the majority of the sensory fibres in the whole body that are capable of detecting heat, noxious chemicals and pressure, itch and cold," says Flinders University's Dr Dusan Matusica, who led the new study.
Dr Matusica says these neurons are involved in collating and transmitting all the signals from the body to the spinal cord, and then the brain.
"Scientists have long known that a subgroup of these neurons is critical in transmitting signals that lead to feelings of pain, and that changes in their signalling leads to the development of chronic pain.
"But together with challenges in isolating sufficient quantities of the neural cells, we have the additional challenge of cells dying in the isolation process.
"Our model means that for the first time, we can easily generate pure populations of these two types of sensory cells in culture, providing the opportunity to get further insights into their function."
Dr Matusica says this new finding has significant implications for researchers around the world, with billions of the cells able to the cultured in as short a time as a week if needed, substantially reducing scientists' reliance on animals in the initial discovery phases of research projects.
The multidisciplinary research team has also genetically sequenced the two neural cells in their entirety, meaning researchers around the world can quickly and easily determine whether they are suitable for their studies.
INFORMATION:
The article, Differentiation of the 50B11 dorsal root ganglion cells into NGF and GDNF responsive nociceptor subtypes (2020), by D Matusica, J Canlas, AM Martin, Y Wei, S Marri, A Erickson, CM Barry, SM Brierley, OG Best, MZ Michael, NH Voelcker, DJ Keating and RV Haberberger has been published in Molecular Pain DOI: 10.1177/1744806920970368
Education, professional skills and experience are the essential criteria for filling a position - or at least that is the expectation. The reality often looks different, as numerous studies have shown. When deciding whether to hire a candidate or not, gender, origin or ethnicity sometimes also play an important role; factors that say little about a candidate's suitability for a job.
This type of discrimination violates the principle of equal opportunities. For those affected, this may have long-term disadvantages, such as longer unemployment or lower wages. This is why it is crucial to understand who is discriminated against, and why. The study conducted by Dominik Hangartner (Public Policy Group), Daniel Kopp and Michael Siegenthaler (both KOF Swiss Economic Institute) ...
Autophagy is a fundamental cellular process by which cells capture and degrade their own dysfunctional or superfluous components for degradation and recycling. Recent research has revealed that phase separated droplets have a range of important functions in cells. An international collaboration between German, Norwegian, and Japanese researchers has unravelled the mechanisms underpinning both how these droplets are captured through autophagy, as well as how droplets can serve as a platform from which structures facilitating cytosolic autophagy arise.
Two worlds meet
Autophagy[1], a critical intracellular ...
Just like us, many insects need a decent night's sleep to function properly, but this might not be possible if they have been exposed to neonicotinoid insecticides, the most common form of insecticide used worldwide, suggests research by academics at the University of Bristol.
Two studies by scientists at Bristol's Schools of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience and Biological Sciences have shown these insecticides affect the amount of sleep taken by both bumblebees and fruit flies, which may help us understand why insect pollinators are vanishing from the wild.
Dr Kiah Tasman, Teaching Associate in the School of Physiology, ...
Just over 200,000 Americans suffer from systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE, a condition in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks its own healthy tissues, especially joints and skin, a new study shows.
Led by a researcher at NYU Grossman School of the Medicine, the study provides the first national estimate of how widespread the autoimmune disease is since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) set up a half dozen state registries to track the illness more than a decade ago. SLE affects mostly women, can be fatal, and often involves debilitating flare-ups of fatigue and pain that keep nearly ...
PHILADELPHIA--Patients with inactive cancer and not currently undergoing treatments also face a significantly higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, a new study from Penn Medicine published online today in JNCI Cancer Spectrum shows. Past reports have established an increased risk of severe disease and death for sick or hospitalized cancer patients with COVID-19 compared to patients without cancer, but less is known about patients in the general population.
The findings underscore the importance of COVID-19 mitigation, like social distancing and mask wearing, and vaccinations for all patients, not just those recently diagnosed or with active disease.
"Patients who have cancer need to be careful ...
New research has shown that people are more likely to follow Covid-19 restrictions based on what their friends do, rather than their own principles.
Research led by the University of Nottingham carried out in partnership with experts in collective behaviour from British, French, German and American universities shows how social influence affects people's adherance to government restrictions. The researchers found that the best predictor of people's compliance to the rules was how much their close circle complied with the rules, which had an even stronger effect than people's own approval of the rules.
The research published in British Journal of Psychology highlights a blindspot in policy responses ...
The US prevalence of the autoimmune disease lupus is 72.8 cases per 100,000 individuals, according to an analysis of population-based registries. The analysis, which is published in END ...
Where people die can affect the quality of their deaths and the end-of-life care that they receive. A study published in the END ...
Pharmacists play an important role in managing medication-based therapies for older community-dwelling patients, according to a study published in the END ...
Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers among men. Patients are determined to have prostate cancer primarily based on *PSA, a cancer factor in blood. However, as diagnostic accuracy is as low as 30%, a considerable number of patients undergo additional invasive biopsy and thus suffer from resultant side effects, such as bleeding and pains.
*Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA): a prostate-specific antigen (a cancer factor) used as an index for the screening of prostate cancer.
The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced that the collaborative research team led by Dr. Kwan Hyi Lee from the Biomaterials Research Center and Professor In Gab Jeong from Asan Medical Center developed a technique ...
