Spatial, transcriptomic, and epigenomic analyses link dorsal horn neurons to chronic pain genetic predisposition

Summary: Key mechanisms underlying chronic pain occur within the dorsal horn. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified genetic variants predisposed to chronic pain. However, most of these variants lie within regulatory non-coding regions that have not been linked to spinal cord biolog...

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Main Authors: Cynthia M. Arokiaraj, Michael J. Leone, Michael Kleyman, Alexander Chamessian, Myung-Chul Noh, BaDoi N. Phan, Bettega C. Lopes, Kelly A. Corrigan, Vijay Kiran Cherupally, Deepika Yeramosu, Michael E. Franusich, Riya Podder, Sumitra Lele, Stephanie Shiers, Byungsoo Kang, Meaghan M. Kennedy, Viola Chen, Ziheng Chen, Hansruedi Mathys, Richard P. Dum, David A. Lewis, Yawar Qadri, Theodore J. Price, Andreas R. Pfenning, Rebecca P. Seal
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-11-01
Series:Cell Reports
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124724012270
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Summary:Summary: Key mechanisms underlying chronic pain occur within the dorsal horn. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified genetic variants predisposed to chronic pain. However, most of these variants lie within regulatory non-coding regions that have not been linked to spinal cord biology. Here, we take a multi-species approach to determine whether chronic pain variants impact the regulatory genomics of dorsal horn neurons. First, we generate a large rhesus macaque single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) atlas and integrate it with available human and mouse datasets to produce a single unified, species-conserved atlas of neuron subtypes. Cellular-resolution spatial transcriptomics in mouse shows the precise laminar location of these neuron subtypes, consistent with our analysis of neuron-subtype-selective markers in macaque. Using this cross-species framework, we generate a mouse single-nucleus open chromatin atlas of regulatory elements that shows strong and selective relationships between the neuron-subtype-specific chromatin regions and variants from major chronic pain GWASs.
ISSN:2211-1247