In this study, the authors show that they can induce the direct conversion of fibroblasts into nociceptor neurons via the expression of only five key transcription factors. They further confirm that these induced neurons are bona fide nociceptors by demonstrating that their expression profiles resemble that of their endogenous counterparts and show that they are responsive to common nociceptor agonists.
- Brian J Wainger
- Elizabeth D Buttermore
- Clifford J Woolf