Biology subjects

Cain, R. E.

Publications and source records attributed to Cain, R. E..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Neuronal EphB2 signaling drives persistent neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury

Neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury reflects persistent hyperexcitability in the spinal cord dorsal horn, yet the molecular drivers sustaining this maladaptive state are unknown. Using an antibody microarray of dorsal horn tissue from mice six weeks after cervical contusion spinal cord injury, we found persistent upregulation of Eph-ephrin signaling, including increased EphB1, EphB2 and EphB3 expression and phosphorylation. Reversible chemogenetic inhibition of EphB kinase activity, using an EphB1/2/3 analog-sensitive knock-in mouse, selectively reversed established mechanical allodynia without affecting thermal hyperalgesia or motor function and also shifted dorsal horn signaling away from pain sensitization-associated pathways. Among EphB receptors, EphB2 showed the most consistent and robust injury-induced increase in expression within dorsal horn. Although EphB2 transcript levels increased in both dorsal horn neurons and astrocytes, conditional deletion of EphB2 only in dorsal horn neurons, but not in astrocytes, reversed established mechanical allodynia and reduced dorsal horn neuronal activation. These findings identify EphB signaling, and neuronal EphB2 in particular, as a mechanism that actively maintains pain hypersensitivity after spinal cord injury.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

Nano-organization of synapses defines synaptic release properties at cortical neuron dendritic spines

Visualization of the submicron organization of excitatory synapses has revealed an unexpectedly ordered architecture consisting of nanocolumns of synaptic proteins that group into nanomodules which scale in number as spine size increases. How these features are related to synaptic function has remained unclear. Here, using super-resolution followed by live-cell line-scan imaging, we find that the size of the smallest miniature calcium and glutamate events are the same, regardless of whether spines have one or two nanopuncta of PSD-95, and that miniature synaptic response in all spines are best fit by a three term Poisson. Two nanomodule spines exhibit more large events without a significant change in event frequency, with the number of the largest events increasing disproportionately. These data support a model where nanomodules define sites of synaptic release and where the nanoarchitecture of synaptic proteins specifies subtypes of excitatory synapses, with increasing numbers of nanomodules increasing coordinated multivesicular release.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

EphrinB2 knockdown in spinal cord astrocytes preserves diaphragm innervation in a mutant SOD1 mouse model of ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor neuron loss. Importantly, non-neuronal cell types such as astrocytes also play significant roles in disease pathogenesis. However, mechanisms of astrocyte contribution to ALS remain incompletely understood. Astrocyte involvement suggests that transcellular signaling may play a role in disease. We examined contribution of transmembrane signaling molecule ephrinB2 to ALS pathogenesis, in particular its role in driving motor neuron damage by spinal cord astrocytes. In symptomatic SOD1G93A mice (a well-established ALS model), ephrinB2 expression was dramatically increased in ventral horn astrocytes. Reducing ephrinB2 in the cervical spinal cord ventral horn via viral-mediated shRNA delivery reduced motor neuron loss and preserved respiratory function by maintaining phrenic motor neuron innervation of diaphragm. EphrinB2 expression was also elevated in human ALS spinal cord. These findings implicate ephrinB2 upregulation as both a transcellular signaling mechanism in mutant SOD1-associated ALS and a promising therapeutic target.

neuroscience↗