Transcriptional profiling of dental sensory and proprioceptive trigeminal neurons using single-cell RNA sequencing

Abstract

Dental primary afferent (DPA) neurons and proprioceptive mesencephalic trigeminal nucleus (MTN) neurons, located in the trigeminal ganglion and the brainstem, respectively, are essential for controlling masticatory functions. Despite extensive transcriptomic studies on various somatosensory neurons, there is still a lack of knowledge about the molecular identities of these populations due to technical challenges in their circuit-validated isolation. Here, we employed high-depth single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) in combination with retrograde tracing in mice to identify intrinsic transcriptional features of DPA and MTN neurons. Our transcriptome analysis revealed five major types of DPA neurons with cell type-specific gene enrichment, some of which exhibit unique mechano-nociceptive properties capable of transmitting nociception in response to innocuous mechanical stimuli in the teeth. Furthermore, we discovered cellular heterogeneity within MTN neurons that potentially contribute to their responsiveness to mechanical stretch in the masseter muscle spindles. Additionally, DPA and MTN neurons represented sensory compartments with distinct molecular profiles characterized by various ion channels, receptors, neuropeptides, and mechanoreceptors. Together, our study provides new biological insights regarding the highly specialized mechanosensory functions of DPA and MTN neurons in pain and proprioception.

Intradental mechano-nociceptors serve as sentinels that prevent tooth damage

“…Instead, we propose the existence of unidentified molecular sensors for high threshold mechanical stimulation of the tooth. Single-cell sequencing of intradental neurons 32 toward screening and identification of novel high-threshold mechanoreceptors and nociceptive transducers will provide additional targets for next-generation dental anesthetics that can be validated with our approach.…”