Stimulation of Dorsal Root Ganglion Sensory Neurons Using a Neuropeptide Receptor Agonist

Take a multi-well plate containing transfected rat dorsal root ganglion sensory neurons.

The test well neurons exhibit reduced neuropeptide receptor expression, while the control well neurons exhibit physiological levels of neuropeptide receptor expression.

Replace the media with serum-free media to provide a controlled environment for accurate stimulation response.

Add a neuropeptide receptor agonist to the wells and mix. Incubate the plate.

In the control well,  the neuropeptide receptor agonist binds to the target receptors, triggering an intracellular signaling cascade that releases neurotransmitters.

However, in the test wells, reduced neuropeptide receptor expression limits agonist binding, leading to decreased neurotransmitter release compared to the control.

After incubation, collect the media from the wells and centrifuge.

Transfer the supernatant into tubes and use a suitable immunoassay to measure neurotransmitter levels. The control sample exhibits higher neurotransmitter release than the test sample following neuroreceptor agonist stimulation.

On day 6, after plating and 72 hours after siRNA transfection, change the culture medium to 200 microliters of serum-free medium. Following a 30-minute incubation, add 1 microliter of the stimulation chemical, and gently mix by pipetting. After incubating for the required period, collect the culture medium from the culture dish, and centrifuge at 5,000 times g for 5 minutes at 4 degrees Celsius to remove any suspended impurities. Collect the supernatant from the centrifugation, and dilute with phosphate-buffered saline as needed.