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The Role of Mechanosensory Activity in the Transcriptional Maturation of Primary Somatosensory Neurons

Award Number: F32NS129589
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: FELLOWSHIP/SCHOLARSHIP/STUDENT LOANS
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 02/01/2023
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 01/31/2026

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The Role of Mechanosensory Activity in the Transcriptional Maturation of Primary Somatosensory Neurons - PROJECT SUMMARY Sensory experience sculpts neural circuits over the course of postnatal development and throughout life. A key question in developmental neurobiology is how sensory-driven neuronal activity cooperates with intrinsic gene expression programs to assemble functional neural circuits during development. While this question is relatively well-studied in central neural circuits, the role sensory activity plays in regulating gene expression in primary sensory neurons remains poorly understood. I propose to address this question in the somatosensory neurons of the dorsal root ganglia (DRG). Sensory experience has long been known to exert a profound effect on the development and function of mammalian sensory systems such as the visual and auditory systems. Likewise, sensory experience has long been presumed to regulate the wiring and function of somatosensory circuits, but only limited suggestive evidence supports such presumptions. Our lab has produced genetic tools that enable visualization and functional manipulation of the major light touch-detecting DRG neuron subtypes in the mouse and recently discovered that disrupting sensory activity changes gene expression programs in these neurons. However, the ways in which sensory activity shapes the gene expression programs that dictate DRG neuron development and function have not been characterized. Aim 1 features joint chromatin-RNA single-nucleus sequencing approaches to describe the DRG neuron gene regulatory landscape across development. Aim 2 uses a combination of the same sequencing approaches and a somatosensory stimulation paradigm to describe how sensory activity establishes DRG neuron subtype-specific gene expression programs. Aim 3 uses mouse genetic tools and physiological and morphological analyses to determine the role of mechanosensation in development of DRG sensory neuron functional properties. Together, these aims will begin to reveal how sensory activity shapes the gene expression programs that dictate DRG neuron development and function, and such findings will inform the study of DRG neuron malfunctions in peripheral neuropathies such as diabetic peripheral neuropathy.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $76,756 )
2025	2025	PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE	25 SHATTUCK ST	BOSTON	MA	02115	SUFFOLK	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	000	3	1/27/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$76,756
														Subtotal = $76,756

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $74,284 )
2024	2024	PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE	25 SHATTUCK ST	BOSTON	MA	02115	SUFFOLK	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	001	2	5/7/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$4,784
2024	2024	PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE	25 SHATTUCK ST	BOSTON	MA	02115	SUFFOLK	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	000	2	1/29/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$69,500
														Subtotal = $74,284

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $69,080 )
2023	2023	PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE	25 SHATTUCK ST	BOSTON	MA	02115	SUFFOLK	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	001	1	12/15/2022	NEW	$0
2023	2023	PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE	25 SHATTUCK ST	BOSTON	MA	02115	SUFFOLK	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	002	1	2/10/2023	NEW	$1,906
2023	2023	PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE	25 SHATTUCK ST	BOSTON	MA	02115	SUFFOLK	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	000	1	12/15/2022	NEW	$67,174
														Subtotal = $69,080

Grand Total All Awards = $220,120

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The Role of Mechanosensory Activity in the Transcriptional Maturation of Primary Somatosensory Neurons

Award Number: F32NS129589

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: FELLOWSHIP/SCHOLARSHIP/STUDENT LOANS

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 02/01/2023

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 01/31/2026

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