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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 22h

A variant of CRISPR amps up expression of SCN2A, rescuing mice from seizures caused by haploinsufficiency.

By @cqchoi.com

www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/boo...

Boosting SCN2A expression reduces seizures in mice

A modified form of CRISPR amps up expression of the gene—a strategy that could apply to other gene variations linked to autism.

www.thetransmitter.org

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Ann Kennedy @antihebbiann.bsky.social · 1d

Our model also predicts dynamics of internal pain and effort states- which look intriguingly like two populations of neurons the Betley lab found during miniscope imaging of PBN!

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Ann Kennedy @antihebbiann.bsky.social · 1d

We tried a handful of manipulations, but found that the only really reliable way to suppress pain-coping behavior was to gate out the pain input to the controller. Which PBN is well positioned to do, as it receives direct input from dorsal horn of the spine!

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Ann Kennedy @antihebbiann.bsky.social · 1d

We then asked: computationally, what should NPY signals to to change how this model behaves? Our first guess was it should work by making coping behavior (licking) more 'expensive' in terms of effort, but in the face of a long-lasting pain input (persisting over an hour) this barely changed behavior

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Ann Kennedy @antihebbiann.bsky.social · 1d

Computationally, how is NPY changing behavior? We formulated pain-coping as a control problem- say the goal of the brain is to minimize perceived pain with minimum "effort" (ie time spent attending to pain). Given this goal we can train models to produce 'optimal' behavior to minimize effort + pain

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Ann Kennedy @antihebbiann.bsky.social · 1d

The work builds off of an amazing result from Amber Alhadeff--
paper: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
essay: www.science.org/doi/full/10....

when mice are food-deprived, AgRP neurons projecting to parabrachial nucleus start releasing neuropeptide Y, and this mechanism suppresses pain-coping behavior.

A Neural Circuit for the Suppression of Pain by a Competing Need State

Hunger suppresses responses to pain through an AgRP/NPY circuit.

www.cell.com

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Ann Kennedy @antihebbiann.bsky.social · 1d

Finally out: our recent work with Nick Betley is a view into how the brain reshapes its behavior in the face of competing survival needs- and also a potential angle on treatment targets for enduring pain.

A brief rundown...

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A parabrachial hub for need-state control of enduring pain - Nature

Activity in a set of parabranchial neurons in the mouse brain is increased during chronic pain, predicts coping behaviour, and can be modulated by circuits activated by survival threats.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Tibor Rohacs @rohacstibor.bsky.social · 1d

The Rutgers Brain Health Institute @rutgersbhi.bsky.social is looking for an accomplished scientist to serve as the Director of the new Rutgers Center on Research in Pain and Pain Therapeutics. Feel free re-post and/or reach out to me if you have any questions
jobs.rutgers.edu/postings/225...

Director of Center on Research in Pain and Pain Therapeutics at Rutgers Brain Health Institute

We seek an accomplished scientist, at the Professor or Associate Professor level, to join the Rutgers Brain Health Institute (BHI) and The Rutgers School of Dental Medicine (RSDM) as Director of the n...

jobs.rutgers.edu

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Pain Research Forum @painresforum.bsky.social · 1d

Hey pain scientist, if you are looking for a condensed list of the top pain literature released each week, come check out #PRF's new #PapersoftheWeek selections from Greg Scherrer and
@drjerinmathew.bsky.social,
who also commented on the latest Editor's Picks painresearchforum.org/paper/preval...

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Annette Dolphin @annieneuro.bsky.social · 1d

2026 SIBPA|IVSLA Intl School of biophysics, Venice 2-6 February 2026. venice.ibf.cnr.it

This should be an interesting school for students to attend.

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Pain Research Forum @painresforum.bsky.social · 3d

Are you a #trainee looking for experience in scientific news reporting? Apply to this internship on @nature.com’s news team now! bit.ly/4pQaFgT #PRF

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Ted Price @tedpricethepainguy.bsky.social · 3d

Just incredible findings, and a beautifully written paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Get your shingrix vaccine! You do not want peripheral neuropathy, and as a bonus you get substantial protection from later development of dementia.

Varicella-zoster virus reactivation and the risk of dementia - Nature Medicine

Large-scale longitudinal health records reveal consistent association of varicella-zoster virus reactivation with dementia.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Cordero-Vásquez Lab @cvlab.bsky.social · 6d

Our new PNAS paper "Enhanced PIEZO1 function contributes to the pathogenesis of sickle cell disease" is out: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 1/3

Enhanced PIEZO1 function contributes to the pathogenesis of sickle cell disease | PNAS

Sickle cell disease (SCD), an inherited blood disorder caused by a mutation in the β-globin gene, is characterized by sickle erythrocytes that are ...

www.pnas.org

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Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF @khannalabuf.bsky.social · 7d

Congratulations Joyce - amazing!!

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Michele Curatolo, MD, PhD @michelecuratolo.bsky.social · 7d

The first publication of our project, which identifies altered gene expressions in the human DRG associated with neck pain. Fantastic collaboration with @tedpricethepainguy.bsky.social lab, Christoph Hofstetter from Neurosurgery, and a stellar team.
urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...

Transcriptome of the human C2 dorsal root ganglia in C1-2 arthrodesis surgery: insight for neck pain

Arendt-Tranholm et al. use surgically resected sensory ganglia to investigate the mechanisms underlying chronic neck pain. They produce a molecular map of

urldefense.com

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Elizabeth Sypek @elizabethis.bsky.social · 8d

grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

NOT-OD-26-004: Information for the NIH Extramural Community During the Lapse of Federal Government Funding

NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Information for the NIH Extramural Community During the Lapse of Federal Government Funding NOT-OD-26-004. NIH

grants.nih.gov

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Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF @khannalabuf.bsky.social · 8d

Is Nav1.8-specific inhibition the only path? Preferential Nav blockers offer a compelling alternative | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

"Preferential Nav channel inhibitors targeting multiple pain-related Navs (Nav1.7, Nav1.8, Nav1.9) may offer a more effective analgesic approach" -- AGREED!

Is Nav1.8-specific inhibition the only path? Preferential Nav blockers offer a compelling alternative | PNAS

Is Nav1.8-specific inhibition the only path? Preferential Nav blockers offer a compelling alternative

www.pnas.org

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Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF @khannalabuf.bsky.social · 9d

Congrats Sampurna!!🎉

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 10d

Compelling and quite disturbing...

LorennaCleary.bsky.social @lorennacleary.bsky.social · 10d

Land of the free. Home of the brave.

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Seth Thomas Scanlon @immunoeditor.bsky.social · 10d

Now in #Science #Immunology: Deshpande, Klose, & al at Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin report that #ILC2 resident in #PNS communicate with neurons via #IL13 to maintain #nerve structure & pain thresholds. Mice lacking ILC2 or whose neurons are Il4ra-KO exhibit #hypersensitivity & #gait defects!

Group 2 innate lymphoid cells regulate nociceptive and gait functions of the peripheral nervous system

ILC2-neuron cross-talk contributes to the maintenance of nerve structure and function of the peripheral nervous system.

www.science.org

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Dr. Ali Barry @aliibarry.bsky.social · 17d

It's such a good week for preprints! Looking forward to reading this one www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #PainResearch

A multi-omic atlas of human autonomic and sensory ganglia implicates cell types in peripheral neuropathies

The human peripheral nervous system (PNS) consists of many ganglia, including sympathetic ganglia (SG) and dorsal root ganglia (DRG), that house the cell bodies of many constituent neuron types and no...

www.biorxiv.org

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Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF @khannalabuf.bsky.social · 17d

Excellent. Congrats Sam and colleagues! Look forward to reading this.

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Sampurna Chakrabarti @amapruns.bsky.social · 17d

We present the first subset-specific proteomic signature of electrophysiologically-defined, pain-sensing neurons. One step closer to uniting function with molecules- one neuron at a time. Thanks to all who have contributed, especially @coscialab.bsky.social @garyrlewin.bsky.social #neuroscience

bioRxivpreprint @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · 18d

Ultrasensitive proteomics uncovers nociceptor diversity and novel pain targets https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.20.677124v1

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Tracy Bale @thebalelab.bsky.social · 21d

Fantastic piece in Nature Reviews Neuro by @nicolecrust.bsky.social on the importance of science communication. My take? Everything matters - just do something. It will make a difference for how science is valued and trusted, how community understands. Let's get out there and communicate! 👏

The unexpected value of communicating science to the public

Nature Reviews Neuroscience - As a group, our scientific community has a responsibility to unpack the ‘what’ and ‘why’ behind our work for the public, not least because much...

rdcu.be

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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF

Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 20d

Any academic folks on H1B visas (even with stamps in passports) please get legal advice from your University attorneys before leaving the US.

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