Fig. 3. Paclitaxel treatment lowers the threshold of keratinocyte activation by mechanical stimulation:

(A) Diagram illustrating the procedure to isolate keratinocytes from the mouse hindpaw epidermis for subsequent calcium imaging and patch clamp electrophysiology studies. (B) Representative traces accompanied by images illustrating mechanically activated calcium responses. The position of the stimulation electrode is depicted with dashed lines. The time of mechanical stimulation (m.s) is shown as a triangle. The scale is 20 μm. (C) Baseline 340/380 fluorescence ratio of keratinocytes derived from mice treated with either paclitaxel (ptx) or vehicle. (D) Activation threshold for the mechanically induced calcium responses. (E) Amplitude of mechanically activated calcium responses, normalized to baseline 340/380 ratio. (F) Example traces showcasing the variations in adaptation rates (rapidly adapting (RA), intermediately adapting (IA), and slowly adapting (SA)) of whole-cell currents induced by membrane indentation (schematic protocol of mechanical stimulation (m.s) is presented on A). Comparative analysis of the distribution of different types (G), activation threshold (H), and density (I) of mechanically-activated currents recorded from keratinocytes isolated from vehicle and paclitaxel-treated mice. Statistical analysis was performed using Student’s t-test; For (G) a chi-square test with Fischer’s Exact post-hoc test was performed *P < 0.05, and ***P < 0.001. Error bars represent SE. Schematic created with BioRender.com.