Figure 2: Conditional neuronal expression of TRPV1-IRES-ECFP in vivo by genetic intercross with mice harboring the nestin-Cre driver. Figure 3: In vivo activation of neurons that conditionally ...

SCN9A is a key gene in the perception of pain that is located on chromosome 2. It is highly expressed nociceptors that are activated when a sharp point or something hot is applied to the body.

The researchers found that people carrying three so-called Neanderthal variants in the gene SCN9A, which is implicated in sensory neurons, are more sensitive to pain from skin pricking after prior ...

These variants – in the SCN9A gene – are most common in populations with greater proportions of Native American ancestry, the team also discovered. The team measured the pain sensitivity of ...

The group then tested their system in mice. They used a viral vector carrying the gene for TRPV1 to deliver the heat sensitive ion channel into the striatum in the brains of mice. The striatum was ...