We use induced pluripotent stem cells to produce nerve cells from chronic pain patients. Thereby, we focus on the voltage-gated sodium channel Nav1.7, as it has been associated with pain. In order to determine that the channel can actually be found on the surface of the patient’s neurons, we have labelled the channel with a small maker peptide (HA-tag) using the Crispr/Cas gene scissors. We can visualize this with high-resolution microscopy (Airyscan). Thus, we can show that the stem cells have to be differentiated for at least 49 days before they incorporate the channel into the cell membrane.
Liu Y., R. Balaji, M. A. Szymanski de Toledo, S. Ernst, P. Hautvast, A. B. Kesdoğan, J. Körner, M. Zenke, A. Neureiter, A. Lampert. "The pain target NaV1.7 is expressed late during human iPS cell differentiation into sensory neurons as determined in high-resolution imaging." Pflugers Arch. 2024 Mar 27
