Papers of the Week

Nociceptors in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and trigeminal ganglia (TG) are necessary for transmitting pain and itch signals. However, the molecular mechanism regulating nociceptor development remains largely unknown. This study identifies that the transcription factor is generally expressed in two groups of sensory neurons in the developing DRG. During prenatal and neonatal stages, approximately 2/3 of Meis1+ neurons are Runx1+ nociceptors, while 1/3 of Meis1+ neurons are NF200+ myelinated neurons. At postnatal stages, Meis1 expression in nociceptors is gradually reduced. Here, we constructed a conditional knockout mouse line to selectively delete in Nav1.8 lineage nociceptors. Microarray analyses showed that differentially expressed genes in the mutant DRG were enriched in pathways related to sensory perception of pain and nervous system development. In addition, regulates the expression of some marker genes of Nppb+ neurons and C-LTMRs. Furthermore, mutant mice exhibit behavioral deficits in response to light mechanical pain, static touch and chemical itch. Therefore, this study reveals that is required to regulate the development of nociceptors.