# Elucidating cutaneous mechanosensory circuits, from development to disease

> **NIH NIH R35** · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · 2021 · $831,501

## Abstract

Abstract
The sense of touch allows us to perceive and respond to the physical world –we recognize objects
held in our hands, discriminate between different textures and shapes, and sensory-motor
feedback circuits coordinate our body movements. The sense of touch also underlies forms of
social exchange and is thus an essential component of the human experience. The first step
leading to touch perception is activation of a group of cutaneous sensory neurons called low-
threshold mechanoreceptors (LTMRs). There are several LTMR types, and each has a unique
sensitivity, morphology, physiological property and, presumably, function. Understanding the
unique functions of each LTMR type, and how ensembles of LTMR activities are integrated and
processed in the CNS to form touch percepts are outstanding questions in the field. Therefore, the
overall goals of my laboratory, and thus this R35 proposal, are: 1) to elucidate the sensitivities,
mechanisms of excitation, and unique functions of the major classes of mammalian cutaneous
LTMRs; 2) to define the logic of LTMR circuit organization in the spinal cord and brainstem, and
the nature of ascending pathways to the brain that underlie discriminative and affective touch
perception; 3) to establish how the peripheral somatosensory system assembles during
development; and 4) to determine whether and how dysfunction of touch circuits and their
development underlies tactile deficits in autism spectrum disorders and during neuropathic pain.
We are achieving these goals using an array of powerful mouse molecular genetic tools, combined
with sophisticated electrophysiological, anatomical, behavioral and developmental assays.
Successful completion of this R35's goals will thus reveal mechanisms of somatosensory nervous
system development and function, and spinal cord touch information processing underlying
perception, under normal and disease conditions.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10241499
- **Project number:** 5R35NS097344-06
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
- **Principal Investigator:** David D GINTY
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $831,501
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10241499

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10241499, Elucidating cutaneous mechanosensory circuits, from development to disease (5R35NS097344-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10241499. Licensed CC0.

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