Ginty Lab Report

The Ginty Lab at Harvard Medical school focuses its research on understanding the function, organization, and mechanisms of assembly of the peripheral nervous system and spinal cord circuits that underlie somatosensation. My project specifically is examining contributions of the peripheral nervous system to Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) using a mouse model of ASD. A recent study in our lab found a peripheral somatosensory neuron locus of dysfunction in two mouse models of ASD that lead to tactile hypersensitivity due to deficits in GABAA receptor signaling at the primary afferent terminals in the spinal cord, as well as anxiety-like behavior and social interaction deficits in these mice. These results highlight a possible new therapeutic target for the treatment of ASD, and we therefore hope to determine whether restoration of GABAA receptor signaling specifically in peripheral somatosensory neurons can improve the observed …show more content…
Employing a battery of behavioral tests such as prepulse inhibition, three chamber, and open field tests allowed us to measure tactile deficits, anxiety-like behavior, and social interaction deficits among mutant, mutant rescue, and wild type mice. We found that restoration of Gabrb3 using viral expression at P5-P6 improved tactile deficits as well as anxiety-like behavior, showing that this could be a possible target for treatment that may improve ASD outcomes when treated at an early age. My research contributes to the overall mission of the lab because through understanding the mechanism by which the dysfunction of the peripheral somatosensory neurons contributes to ASD phenotypes allows a deeper understanding of those neurons’