@denklab

Massive congrats!! 🎉🎊

Have you been wondering what the role is of non-neuronal cells in modulating sensory neuron activity? Check out this review from @psalmotoxin.bsky.social et al. in @sfnjournals.bsky.social’s #JNeurosci, one of this week’s #EditorsPick papers chosen by @rpseal.bsky.social bit.ly/3XEp2rE #PRF

Figure 1. Non-neuronal–neuron communication in the skin. (1) Non-neuronal cells and extracellular matrix in the skin. (2) When in ammatory events such as IL-6, ATP, and protease production from injury or infection are introduced, it causes an activation of cells, a disruption in extracellular matrix, and damage to sensory neurons. (3) During in ammatory cascades, injured or sensitized neurons potentiate pain and the development of a chronic pain state.

Figure 2. Cell–cell interactions in joint pain. Numerous pathogenic changes occur within the OA joint and other musculoskeletal conditions that can contribute to pain, including cartilage degradation, synovitis, and bone remodeling (1). Within the joint evidence has established the role of some key non-neuronal cell types that contribute to pain (2) and some of the signaling nociceptor activation and sensitization mechanisms involved (3). There is also growing evidence for cell–cell interactions within the DRG that contribute to pain (4). See text for more details.

Figure 3. Keratinocytes contribute to normal touch and chemotherapy-induced mechanical sensitivity through PIEZO1. Keratinocytes in the most super cial layer of the skin respond to mechanical forces via their expression of PIEZO1 channels and activated keratinocytes release ATP which signals to P2X4 channels on cutaneous sensory nerve endings. After a patient is treated with the chemotherapeutic paclitaxel, keratinocyte PIEZO1 is sensitized; the keratinocytes release more ATP and additional mediators, resulting in greater action potential signaling in sensory neurons that is sent to the spinal cord and brain through touch and pain pathways.

With the annual @sfn.org meeting coming up, I'm looking forward to Saturday's symposium with @cherylstucky.bsky.social , @mdburton.bsky.social & Anne-Marie Heegaard on non-neuronal cells in #PainResearch

Here's our accompanying review!
www.jneurosci.org/content/45/4...

A molecular map of the human spinal dorsal and ventral horn defines arrangement of neuronal types and glial sex differences The spinal cord is the gateway for sensory information from the body as it ascends to the brain, as well as a major motor output center of the nervous system. It is also a key location for sensory-mot...

The latest work from our PRECISION Human Pain Center project is now up on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social led by Katherin Gabriel and @oliviadavis.bsky.social with a huge contribution from @allanhpool.bsky.social's lab and, of course, the Southwest Transplant Alliance: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

GPR68, a proton-sensing GPCR, mediates acid-induced visceral nociception Localised acidification from immune cell infiltration and heightened glycolysis contributes to colitis pathology by activating acid-sensing receptors such as GPR68, a proton-sensing GPCR expressed on ...

A new #PainResearch paper from us at @phar.cam.ac.uk 😃 Led by Luke Paine from the Bulmer Lab, supported by @javimmunopain.bsky.social & others, & it’s all about acid; not the hallucinogenic kind, but rather H+ www.cmghjournal.org/article/S235...

🚨New paper from the NIH PRECISION Human Pain Network! We built a human DRG reference atlas: >500K cells from 126 donors to reveal 22 neuronal & 10 non-neuronal cell types. New insights into human sensory biology!
Paper: biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Data: humandrg.painseq.com

🎙️ Carol Ann Remme (Amsterdam UMC) joins #WSCC26 (Feb 4–6, 2026, Grindelwald, CH) to talk about cardiac sodium channels ❤️ and their role in cardiac physiology & disease.

🧠 Abstracts due Nov 2
🔗 sodiumchannelconference2026.org/WELCOME/

#NaV #ionchannels #cardiacphysiology #scienceconference

Pre-print alert! And this one really is a must read for anyone that does spectral #flowcytometry. It is a complete, fully-automated spectral unmixing pipeline that reduces error up to 9000-fold.

Want to get a tough sample, like lung, looking like this? Read more!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Generation of parasympathetic neurons from hiPSC that reproduce the electrophysiological properties of native neurons and modulate the activity of hiPSC-atrial cardiomyocytes Peripheral parasympathetic ganglia lie adjacent to their target organs; their dysfunction contributes to diseases like atrial fibrillation. Due to their challenging accessibility for primary culture, ...

Happy to share our new preprint
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
We present a protocol to generate Parasympathetic neurons from hiPSC. They express key parasympathetic/autonomic markers, #ephys features and respond to nicotine. They can also form functional connections with hiPSC-atrial cardiomyocytes.

Prof Selina Wray will join us as our careers keynote, sharing her journey from a working class background and part time work through to a professorship, and Dr Carole Torsney, our research keynote, will tell us about her preclinical research on sex & gender disparities in pain.

SPARC Portal The open community platform for bridging the body and the brain through neuroscience and systems physiology data, computational and spatial modeling, and device design.

Coming soon thanks to @ish1789.bsky.social sparc.science/datasets/480. Lots and lots of data!

Stuart Bevan and I are offering an exciting MRC DTP-funded PhD project exploring the mechanisms of pain in Long COVID.

Find out more about the project here:
🔗 tinyurl.com/3caseacv

Application deadline: 28th October

@wolfsonsparc.bsky.social y.social
@kingsioppn.bsky.social sioppn.bsky.social

Labelled axons of calb1+ spinal projection neurons innervate multiple brain targets associated with cold sensation and thermoregulation. Darkfield images of different brain areas including the postal parabrachial and periaqueductal grey are shown with axons of ascending cells in yellow.

New preprint from the spinal cord group at Glasgow. Anatomical and functional characterisation of spinal circuits for cold, from sensory neurons to the brain…..https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.03.680240v1

Great to have this out: wonderful team effort, & nice to build on work from others that had identified the dysregulated osteoarthritis lipidome 😃 #neuroskyence #PainResearch

📊 Want to boost your research skills?

Join our 3-day training on Experimental Design and Core Statistics in Cambridge (Dec 8–10).

✅ Free to attend
🙋‍♀️ Open to all career stages
🚆 Travel and accommodation costs reimbursed

Apply by October 17th 👉 www.giba-uk.org/training-opp...

We are proud to launch what we think is going to be fantastic opportunity for pain neuroscientists and clinicians to learn the foundations of pain neuroscience

Our NEW working groups support effective collaborations across the UK.

Could you help answer one of our first 5️⃣ key research questions?

👉 www.giba-uk.org/working-groups

🙋‍♀️ Ambitious ECRs are invited to co-lead each group. Apply before Friday 10th October.

Congratulations @amapruns.bsky.social and all! Can't wait to dig in to this dataset #PainResearch

If you are UK-based and interested in Gut-Immune-Brain Axis research, do sign up to our GIBA+ network and its working groups! You will get access to lots of new contacts, publication and funding opportunities 🧪🧠🤑 #PainResearch #PainScience #neuroskyence #ImmunoSky

The past two decades have seen a global explosion of research into the gut-immune-brain axis.

There is great energy in #Southampton today for our #GIBANetworklaunch.

Together, we are building a vibrant and diverse research community to fully realise GIBA's potential.

Learn more 👉 www.giba-uk.org

New method development work from our lab that I hope will make it easier for labs to work with peripheral nervous system tissues recovered from organ donors, tissue donors, and fast autopsies: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... This work was led by the amazing duo of Joe Lesnak and Mandee Schaub

Photo of the Bennett lab and extended folks at a long table out for dinner.

Thanks to everyone who made #NeuPSIG2025 so great, and to the photographer here who somehow managed to capture everyone (?) at this table

Christmas Meeting - Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante Este tradicional encuentro, que se realiza en el mes de diciembre de cada año, tiene como finalidad la interacción de investigadores que actualmente trabajan en instituciones de prestigio internaciona...

Fancy a #neuroskyence trip to Alicante in December?

You can propose yourself to give a talk at the 22nd Christmas Meeting of Alicante's Institute for Neurosciences: in.umh-csic.es/en/communica...

Me, Mat, George and Jimena standing in the auditorium after our session

Me standing in front of my poster looking very happy

On my way home after an excellent trip. First, I went to Poland to visit @mwklab.bsky.social and give a talk together with @gg9761.bsky.social and Jimena Perez-Sanchez. Next, we all went to Berlin 🚂 to participate in #NeuPSIG where I got to hang out with more of my favorite scientists! #PainResearch

Quick reminder as we head into #NeuPSIG that we have a #PainResearch feed and conferences are the best time to force your friends to join bsky

bsky.app/profile/did:...

screenshot of a zoom meeting and a Rmd knit for a "Machine Learning in Neuropathic Pain" document

What better way to get excited for #NeuPSIG2025 than a @utdpaincenter.bsky.social test run of our Machine Learning Workshop? #PainResearch

BOOM! Cool to see the final form of this great work now published. Deep new insight into human peripheral neuropathy. Congrats @mheming.bsky.social and colleagues on a great study.

If you are preparing your bachelor statistics course and would like to add optional material for students to better understand statistics on a conceptual level (see topics in the screenshot) my free textbook provides a state of the art overview. lakens.github.io/statistical_...

Many congratulations again on this fabulous piece of work! 🎉🥳 Required reading for people in #PainResearch #painscience

SLC45A4 is a pain gene encoding a neuronal polyamine transporter - Nature The SLC45A4 gene encodes a neuronal polyamine transporter and is linked to pain response in humans and mice.

We've found a new gene linked to chronic pain in humans! The gene SLC45A4 encodes (the long-awaited) neuronal polyamine transporter, which is important for pain signalling in nerves. We hope this discovery might lead to new chronic pain treatments in the future!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...