Follow-up – WAA
A team of researchers at the Washington University Pain Center in St. Louis has found a way to isolate the neurons that cause sneezing and coughing in the airways of mice.
Previous research has led to the classification of airway neurons in mice, based on the ion channels on the cell surfaces (responsible for generating and propagating signals in excitable cells such as neurons).
In the new study, the researchers used this information to search for the specific neurons involved in triggering a sneeze and/or cough, a process that involves exposing the ion channels to different compounds to see how they interact.
The research team found a compound called BAM 8-22 that makes mice sneeze. Previous research had shown that the compound activates the ion channel MrgprC11, leading the team to suspect that neurons carrying MrgprC11 channels were causing the sneeze.
To confirm this, they removed these neurons from the airways of test mice, then infected them with the influenza virus.
The researchers found that the mice got sick but didn’t sneeze, a strong sign that they had found the right neurons involved.
The team followed much the same approach to identify the neurons responsible for triggering cough in mice. They found several in the trachea that expressed a chemical known to be a signaling messenger. Removing them “removed the cough stimulus.”
The researchers plan to find out whether similar types of neurons work in humans as well.
They noted that learning more about these triggers could help develop more effective treatments for the symptoms.