PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - R. Brian Roome
AU  - Farin B. Bourojeni
AU  - Bishakha Mona
AU  - Shima Rastegar-Pouyani
AU  - Raphael Blain
AU  - Annie Dumouchel
AU  - Charleen Salesse
AU  - W. Scott Thompson
AU  - Megan Brookbank
AU  - Yorick Gitton
AU  - Lino Tessarollo
AU  - Martyn Goulding
AU  - Jane E. Johnson
AU  - Marie Kmita
AU  - Alain Chédotal
AU  - Artur Kania
TI  - Phox2a defines a developmental origin of the anterolateral system in mice and humans
AID  - 10.1101/2020.06.10.144659
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.06.10.144659
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/06/11/2020.06.10.144659.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/06/11/2020.06.10.144659.full
AB  - Anterolateral system neurons relay pain, itch and temperature information from the spinal cord to pain-related brain regions, but the differentiation of these neurons and their specific contribution to pain perception remain poorly defined. Here, we show that virtually all mouse spinal neurons that embryonically express the autonomic system-associated Paired-like homeobox 2A (Phox2a) transcription factor innervate nociceptive brain targets, including the parabrachial nucleus and the thalamus. We define Phox2a anterolateral system neuron birth order, migration and differentiation, and uncover an essential role for Phox2a in the development of relay of nociceptive signals from the spinal cord to the brain. Finally, we also demonstrate that the molecular identity of Phox2a neurons is conserved in the human foetal spinal cord. The developmental expression of Phox2a as a uniting feature of anterolateral system neurons suggests a link between nociception and autonomic nervous system function.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.