Defining the contribution of C-fibre low threshold mechanoreceptors to nociception, acute pain and pain chronicity (A02)

• Subject Area: Epidemiology and Medical Biometry/Statistics
• Term: from 2015 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 255156212

Pleasant, affiliative touch is encoded by a population of peripheral sensory neurons called C-low threshold mechanoreceptors. After injury, these neurons may change their properties and contribute to pain sensations that arise from light touch. We have generated transgenic mouse lines that allow us to identify and manipulate these neurons in vivo. By experimentally silencing or activating these neurons in mice we aim to uncover the role they play in nociceptive processing and understand how they transition from detecting pleasure to pain.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1158: From nociception to chronic pain: Structure-function properties of neural pathways and their reorganisation
• Applicant Institution: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
• Project Head: Dr. Paul A. Heppenstall