Human sensory neurons: Membrane properties and sensitization by inflammatory mediators

Naïve hDRG neurons cultured from young adults without chronic pain are highly chemosensitive to algogens and pruritogens, and can be sensitized by inflammatory mediators. Small- to medium-size hDRG neurons exhibit AP waveforms similar to what has been described for rodent nociceptors. Cultured hDRG neurons represent a more direct way of studying analgesic translational efficacy and confirming target validation before initiating expensive and time-consuming clinical trials. Biological differences in sensory processing between human and model organisms may present significant obstacles to translational approaches in treating chronic pain. To better understand the physiology of human sensory neurons, we performed whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from 141 human dorsal root ganglion (hDRG) neurons from 5 young adult donors without chronic pain. Nearly all small-diameter hDRG neurons (