Assistant Professor of PharmacologyThe senses of touch, taste, and hearing are thought to be signaled by sensory neurons that innervate specialized structures (e.g. Meissner’s complex, taste receptor cells, and hair cells of the inner ear). In contrast, pain is likely signaled through sensory neurons that innervate their respective tissues with free nerve endings. Questions that remain unanswered are whether nociceptors (pain-sensing neurons) are activated directly by noxious stimuli or whether the innervated tissue itself acts as the receptive structure. Current research in the laboratory is focused on determining the molecular mechanisms by which nociceptors are activated in the skin. Specifically, the laboratory is interested in a sub-population of primary sensory neurons that express the mas-related gene receptor D (MrgD) and project selectively to the stratum granulosum of the epidermis.
Using mice genetically engineered to express green fluorescent protein (GFP) in all neurons containing the MrgD receptor, we can ask questions that attempt to uncover the relevant stimuli for this sub-population of sensory neurons. The principle method utilized by the laboratory to answer these questions is patch-clamp electrophysiology on isolated MrgD-expressing sensory neurons in primary culture.