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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Oct 10.
Published in final edited form as: J Invest Dermatol. 2021 Sep 1;142(3 Pt A):594–602. doi: 10.1016/j.jid.2021.07.178

Figure 3. β-defensins directly activate sensory neurons.

Figure 3.

MA-Plot of defensins in skin samples from (a) MC903- (GSE90883) and (b) imiquimod-treated mice (GSE161084). (c) Scratching bouts elicited by intradermal injection of 1mM of the indicated recombinant β-defensins and saline (n=8-12). Defb3 and Defb14 induced scratching was significantly greater than saline, p = 0.003 and p < 0.0001, respectively (ANOVA Fisher’s LSD post-hoc analysis). (d) Mast-cells deficient mice (Mcpt5-DTA) and wild-type controls exhibited similar responses to Defb14 (1mM, p=0.87, two-tailed T-test). (e) Calcium imaging of 352 cultured DRG-neurons transfected with AAV9-GCaMP6f. (f) 46/55 Defb14-responsive neurons responded to CQ. (g) Whole-cell patch-clamp recording of Mrgpra3-Cre-GFP-neurons revealed that Defb14 (1μM) and CQ (100μM) evoked action potential discharges (n =8/8). (h) Scratching bouts of Mrgpra3-DTA mice (n=14) were significantly reduced compared to controls (n=12, p=0.007, two-tailed T-test).