Fig. 3.

TLR7 does not affect scratching, calcium, and electrophysiological responses to IQ. (A) IQ-induced scratches in TLR7^+/+ and TLR7^−/− mice. There was no significant difference between TLR7-deficient mice (n = 12) and their control animals (n = 5). (B) Compared with wild-type neurons, IQ-induced Ca²⁺ responses were not impaired in TLR7^−/− DRG neurons. (C) Representative IQ-elicited action potentials from WT (n = 4) and TLR7-deficient DRG neurons (n = 7). Three of four WT and six of seven mutant DRG neurons responded to IQ (20 μg/mL), causing depolarization. Among depolarized neurons, one WT and three TLR7^−/− DRG neurons generated action potentials in the presence of IQ. IQ induced comparable magnitudes of membrane depolarization in WT and TLR7 deficient neurons. (bar graph). (D) Compared with IQ, a scratching behavioral response to loxoribine (100 μg) was not significant in wild-type mice (n = 8). (E) Loxoribine (20 μg/mL) did not evoke Ca²⁺ responses without affecting IQ-induced Ca²⁺ responses.