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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Apr 1.
Published in final edited form as: Pain. 2021 Apr 1;162(4):1126–1134. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002110

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Inhibition of the colon epithelium reduces visceromotor response (VMR) to colorectal distension (CRD). Inhibitory opsin archaerhodopsin (Arch) is conjugated to enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) to enable visualization. Arch-EGFP (green) is specifically expressed in colon epithelial cells under the villin-cre driver (A) and not in the L6 DRG (B). C) A laser-balloon device was constructed to enable CRD simultaneous with light illumination of the colon lumen. D) VMRs to 60 mmHg CRD were recorded in villin-Archaerhodopsin (Vil-Arch) and control littermate mice before (Baseline) and during yellow light application (+ Laser). E) Comparing the effects of yellow light in Vil-Arch vs. control mice, there was a significant interaction between genotype and laser (p = 0.04; two-way ANOVA). Yellow light significantly reduced the VMR in Vil-Arch mice [n = 11 (7 male, 4 female); p = 0.01; Holm-Sidak test] but not in control littermate mice [n = 7 (4 male, 3 female); p = 0.97; Holm-Sidak test]. F) Out of 11 Vil-Arch mice, 8 displayed a significant decrease in VMR to CRD with the addition of yellow light. The mean of the baseline and the inhibited trials are shown. Inhibition occurred in an average of 71% of trials (inset). Scale bars = 100 μ;M (A), 50 μ;M (B).