Genetic targeting of myelinated primary afferent neurons using a new NefhCreERT2 knock-in mouse

Le résumé fourni par la source

Primary afferent neurons that convey somatosensory modalities comprise two large, heterogeneous populations: small-diameter neurons that give rise to slowly conducting unmyelinated axonal C fibers and medium-to-large diameter neurons with fast myelinated A fibers. Despite these two major groupings, tools to differentiate between unmyelinated and myelinated primary afferent fibers by genetic targeting have not been available; in particular, whereas numerous mouse driver lines exist to target different C fiber populations, genetic tools that target myelinated primary afferent populations are scarce. Here we describe a knock-in mouse line expressing tamoxifen-dependent CreERT2 under control of the Nefh gene, which encodes neurofilament heavy chain (NFH or NF200), a protein that is highly enriched in myelinated fibers. This mouse enables highly selective and efficient recombination of Cre-dependent reporters for functional and anatomical interrogation of myelinated fibers while excluding unmyelinated C fibers. In combination with other recombinase-expressing mouse lines, this genetic tool will be valuable for intersectional targeting of subpopulations of myelinated primary afferent fibers.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.