Fig. 4: Ablation of SplitCre-Aβ-LTMRs reduced gentle touch sensation but increased mechanical nociception in the glabrous skin.
A Illustration showing cutaneous sensory afferents of the ablated plantar skin; green fibers represent nociceptive C and Aδ fibers; red fibers represent RA Aβ-LTMRs innervating Meissner’s corpuscles (red capsules); black fibers represent SA Aβ-LTMRs innervating Merkel cells; ‘X’ symbol represents the DTA-induced ablation. B Ablation of SplitCre-Aβ-LTMRs did not affect 50% PWT of the von Frey hair test (p > 0.99), n = 9 mice in each group. C Percentage of paw lifting responses to dynamic cotton swab was significantly attenuated in the ablated mice (p = 0.0014), 5 trials/mouse, n = 9 mice in each group. D The tape removal time significantly increased in the ablated mice (p = 0.0063), n = 10 mice in each group. E Chamber preference of different floor texture was altered in the ablated mice (p = 0.001) compared to the control mice (p = 0.097). n = 8 for control and 7 for the ablated mice. F The number of licking episodes with the application of an alligator clip significantly increased in the ablated mice (p = 0.0002), n = 10 mice in each group. G The ablated mice showed significantly decreased 50% PWT in chronic inflammation condition at 2 hour (p = 0.0149), 14th day (p = 0.0427), 21st day (p = 0.0012), and 28th day (p = 0.0012 g) in comparison to vehicle-treated mice. n = 9 mice per group except the days 21 and 28 (vehicle: n = 7 mice and DTA: n = 6 mice). Black arrow indicates the time of intraplantar injection of CFA. H The ablated mice showed no significant change in the paw withdrawal latency (PWL) of the Hargreaves test in chronic inflammation condition (vehicle and DTA: n = 9 mice). Black and red color of the bars represent vehicle and DTA treatment respectively. Error bars represent Mean ± S.E.M. Unpaired, two-tailed Mann-Whitney test. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001, ns = non-significant. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
