Phenotyping the Function of TRPV1-Expressing Sensory Neurons by Targeted Axonal Silencing

Christian Brenneis,^1,2 Katrin Kistner,³ Michelino Puopolo,⁴ David Segal,¹ David Roberson,¹ Marco Sisignano,² Sandra Labocha,² Nerea Ferreirós,² Amanda Strominger,¹ Enrique J. Cobos,¹ Nader Ghasemlou,¹ Gerd Geisslinger,² Peter W. Reeh,³ Bruce P. Bean,⁴ , and Clifford J. Woolf^1,4

¹F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, ²Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Pharmazentrum Frankfurt/Zentrum für Arzneimittelforschung, Entwicklung und Sicherheit (ZAFES), University Hospital, Goethe-University, D-60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany, ³Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg, D-91054 Erlangen, Germany, and ⁴Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Clifford J. Woolf, F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, MA 02115. Email: Clifford.Woolf{at}childrens.harvard.edu

Abstract: Specific somatosensations may be processed by different subsets of primary afferents. C-fibers expressing heat-sensitive TRPV1 channels are proposed, for example, to be heat but not mechanical pain detectors. To phenotype in rats the sensory function of TRPV1⁺ afferents, we rapidly and selectively silenced only their activity, by introducing the membrane-impermeant sodium channel blocker QX-314 into these axons via the TRPV1 channel pore. Using tandem mass spectrometry we show that upon activation with capsaicin, QX-314 selectively accumulates in the cytosol only of TRPV1-expressing cells, and not in control cells. Exposure to QX-314 and capsaicin induces in small DRG neurons a robust sodium current block within 30 s. In sciatic nerves, application of extracellular QX-314 with capsaicin persistently reduces C-fiber but not A-fiber compound action potentials and this effect does not occur in TRPV1^–/– mice. Behavioral phenotyping after selectively silencing TRPV1⁺ sciatic nerve axons by perineural injections of QX-314 and capsaicin reveals deficits in heat and mechanical pressure but not pinprick or light touch perception. The response to intraplantar capsaicin is substantially reduced, as expected. During inflammation, silencing TRPV1⁺ axons abolishes heat, mechanical, and cold hyperalgesia but tactile and cold allodynia remain following peripheral nerve injury. These results indicate that TRPV1-expressing sensory neurons process particular thermal and mechanical somatosensations, and that the sensory channels activated by mechanical and cold stimuli to produce pain in naive/inflamed rats differ from those in animals after peripheral nerve injury.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Clifford J. Woolf, F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, MA 02115. Email: Clifford.Woolf{at}childrens.harvard.edu

Permeation and block of TRPV1 channels by the cationic lidocaine derivative QX-314.

M. Puopolo, A. M. Binshtok, G.-L. Yao, S. B. Oh, C. J. Woolf, and B. P. Bean (2013)
J Neurophysiol 109, 1704-1712
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