Max-Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine and University of Goettingen, Somatosensory Signaling and Systems Biology Group, 37075 Goettingen, Germany.
NGS Integrative Genomics, Department of Human Genetics at the University Medical Center Goettingen (UMG), 37075 Goettingen, Germany.
Cell Rep. 2020 Jul 21;32(3):107912. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107912.
The age of studied animals has a profound impact on experimental outcomes in animal-based research. In mice, age influences molecular, morphological, physiological, and behavioral parameters, particularly during rapid postnatal growth and maturation until adulthood (at 12 weeks of age). Despite this knowledge, most biomedical studies use a wide-spanning age range from 4 to 12 weeks, raising concerns about reproducibility and potential masking of relevant age differences. Here, using mouse behavior and electrophysiology in cultured dorsal root ganglia (DRG), we reveal a decline in behavioral cutaneous touch sensitivity and Piezo2-mediated mechanotransduction in vitro during mouse maturation but not thereafter. In addition, we identify distinct transcript changes in individual Piezo2-expressing mechanosensitive DRG neurons by combining electrophysiology with single-cell RNA sequencing (patch-seq). Taken together, our study emphasizes the need for accurate age matching and uncovers hitherto unknown maturational plasticity in cutaneous touch at the level of behavior, mechanotransduction, and transcripts.
研究动物的年龄对基于动物的研究的实验结果有深远的影响。在小鼠中，年龄会影响分子、形态、生理和行为参数，特别是在快速的产后生长和成熟直到成年期（12 周龄）期间。尽管有这些知识，大多数生物医学研究使用从 4 到 12 周龄的广泛年龄范围，这引起了对可重复性和潜在掩盖相关年龄差异的关注。在这里，我们使用培养的背根神经节 (DRG) 中的小鼠行为和电生理学，揭示了在小鼠成熟过程中，但此后不会发生的行为性皮肤触觉敏感性和 Piezo2 介导的机械转导的体外下降。此外，我们通过将电生理学与单细胞 RNA 测序 (patch-seq) 相结合，确定了个体表达 Piezo2 的机械敏感 DRG 神经元中的不同转录变化。总之，我们的研究强调了准确匹配年龄的必要性，并揭示了行为、机械转导和转录水平的皮肤触觉迄今为止未知的成熟可塑性。
