遺伝子テクノロジー

概要

The Development of in Vitro Tools for Understanding the Physiology of Human Peripheral Sensory Neurons

Yoshie Umehara, Mitsutoshi Tominaga, François Niyonsaba, Kenji Takamori

Somatic sensations, such as itch, pain, temperature and touch, are mediated by peripheral sensory neurons, which have cell bodies in Dorsal Root Ganglia (DRG) or trigeminal ganglia. Understanding the fundamental mechanisms underlying the transmission of somatosensory information is important for the development of tissue regeneration, disease modeling and treatment strategies. Genetic engineering techniques have identified sensory stimuli-associated transmission molecules in animals, whereas ethical difficulties collecting peripheral neurons from human DRG have limited analysis in humans. Peripheral sensory neurons derived from human cell resources are required to investigate the biology and pathophysiology underlying somatic sensations in humans. This review describes recently developed methods and tools used in physiological studies of human sensory neurons, as well as the results of these investigations.