Journal
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 30, Issue 12, Pages 4353-4361Publisher
SOC NEUROSCIENCE
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4666-09.2010
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Funding
- National Institutes of Health [NS40538]
- Burroughs Wellcome Career Award in Biosciences
- Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship
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Hydroxy-alpha-sanshool, the active ingredient in plants of the prickly ash plant family, induces robust tingling paresthesia by activating a subset of somatosensory neurons. However, the subtypes and physiological function of sanshool-sensitive neurons remain unknown. Here we use the ex vivo skin-nerve preparation to examine the pattern and intensity with which the sensory terminals of cutaneous neurons respond to hydroxy-alpha-sanshool. We found that sanshool excites virtually all D-hair afferents, a distinct subset of ultrasensitive light-touch receptors in the skin and targets novel populations of A beta and C fiber nerve afferents. Thus, sanshool provides a novel pharmacological tool for discriminating functional subtypes of cutaneous mechanoreceptors. The identification of sanshool-sensitive fibers represents an essential first step in identifying the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying tingling paresthesia that accompanies peripheral neuropathy and injury.
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