Shank2 identifies a subset of glycinergic neurons involved in altered nociception in an autism model.
Florian Olde HeuvelNajwa Ouali AlamiOumayma AousjiEsther Miriam Pogatzki-ZahnPeter K ZahnHanna WilhelmDhruva DeshpandeElmira KhatamsazAlberto CataneseSarah WoelfleMichael SchoenSanjay JainStefanie GrabruckerAlbert C LudolphChiara VerpelliJens MichaelisTobias M BöckersFrancesco RoselliPublished in: Molecular autism (2023)
Our findings prove that Shank2 expression identifies a new subset of inhibitory interneurons involved in reducing the transmission of nociceptive stimuli and whose unchecked activation is associated with pain hypersensitivity. We provide evidence that dysfunction in spinal cord pain processing may contribute to the nociceptive phenotypes in ASD.