Human Tissue Core

University Of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

Migraine, one of the most common primary headache disorders, affects 1 in 4 US households. This complex neurologic disorder is mediated in part by alterations in trigeminal somatosensation, which manifests as head/fa- cial pain and/or trigeminal allodynia. Effective treatments for migraine are still limited, and our knowledge about human trigeminal system at baseline and migraine conditions are sparse. In response to RFA-NS-22-018, HEAL Initiative: Discovery and Functional Evaluation of Human Pain-associated Genes & Cells, we propose to form the Penn Human Precision Pain Center (Penn HPPC) to elucidate molecular, cellular, epigenetic, and physiological profiles of human trigeminal ganglion (TG) sensory neurons at baseline and migraine conditions. The Penn HPPC will be composed of Penn and international investigators with multidisciplinary expertise. The PI, two MPIs, and two co-Is are currently collaborating on a single-soma deep RNA-seq of human dorsal root ganglion (DRG) project, which form a strong foundation for this application. The Penn HPPC will contain three cores and perform three projects. Among them, the human tissue core will function as the sole entity for procuring and storing human tissues and distributing human tissues among research projects. The Penn HPPC human tissue procurement and processing core will also coordinate with other U19 centers and the NIH HEAL Initiative PRECISION Human Pain network for human tissue procurement, sharing, and SOP (Standard Operat- ing Procedure) development. The human tissue core will be led by the PI, Dr. Luo, and supported by her research associate, Dr. Yu, and a coordinator. The human tissue core will also include two UPenn neurosurgeons, Drs Ali Zarina and Eric Zager, and a coordinator in the department of neurosurgery. Specifically, the human tissue core will coordinate with different human tissue procurement sites, including the human tissue cores of other U19 centers, for procuring human trigeminal ganglion (TGs) and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) tissues, perform quality control of all procured tissues, stock and archive the tissues, distribute tissues among the three research pro- jects, ensure compliances and trainings related to human tissues, and work with the administrative core to dis- seminate optimized protocols and procedures related to human TGs and DRGs to the HEAL community and the pain research field. Together with other components of the Penn HPPC, the human tissue procurement and processing core will help to achieve the proposed goals of Penn HPPC as well as the overarching goal of the NIH HEAL Initiative PRECISION Human Pain network.