Analysis Tools
behavior/neurological
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• mice raise their tails, particularly in response to stress such as when placed on an open-air raised platform
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• in mutants, the average latencies to withdrawal at cold-plate surface temperatures of 10 and 5 degrees Celsius are longer relative to wild-type mice, indicating decreased sensitivity to cutaneous cold stimuli
• average latency in response to 5 degree Celsius stimulus is significantly longer than in wild-type, while 10 degree C stimulus does not elicity any withdrawal response in most mice within the cutoff time of 150 seconds
• latency to response to a heat stimulus (planter test) does not differ between wild-type and mutant mice
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nervous system
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• spinal cords of homozygous mice are similar to controls, in terms of afferent projection patterns into the dorsal horn, morphology of presynaptic glomeruli, synapses formed between glomeruli, and coupling between axons and dendrites
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• a reduction in synaptic inputs from menthol-sensitive afferent fibers to substantia gelatinosa (SG) neurons is observed in slices from mutant brains relative to wild-type
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• interevent intervals are reduced significantly under the action of menthol, but amplitudes of mEPSCs are unchanged compared to controls
• number of neurons displaying a 2..6-fold increase in mEPSC frequency is less (3/46) than in wild-type (9/50) or heterozygotes (11/51)
• menthol-mediated increase in mEPSC frequency is suppressed in menthol-sensitive SG neurons
• slow mEPSCs are evoked at a higher frequency than in control, under the action of menthol, while fast mEPSCs are evoked at ~ the same frequency as in controls
• population of mEPSCs with slow kinetics (rise time, decay time) is smaller than in heterozygous controls, and the frequency of slow mEPSCs in mutant neurons is significantly decreased relative to heterozygous controls
• capsaicin actions on mEPSCs are similar in mutant and controls SG neurons
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