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Updated: Nov 15, 2025

An In Vitro Adult Mouse Muscle-nerve Preparation for Studying the Firing Properties of Muscle Afferents
Published on: September 24, 2014
Molecular correlates of muscle spindle and Golgi tendon organ afferents
Katherine M Oliver1,2, Danny M Florez-Paz2,3, Tudor Constantin Badea4,5
1Department of Neurology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
Abstract:
Proprioceptive feedback mainly derives from groups Ia and II muscle spindle (MS) afferents and group Ib Golgi tendon organ (GTO) afferents, but the molecular correlates of these three afferent subtypes remain unknown. We performed single cell RNA sequencing of genetically identified adult proprioceptors and uncovered five molecularly distinct neuronal clusters. Validation of cluster-specific transcripts in dorsal root ganglia and skeletal muscle demonstrates that two of these clusters correspond to group Ia MS afferents and group Ib GTO afferent proprioceptors, respectively, and suggest that the remaining clusters could represent group II MS afferents. Lineage analysis between proprioceptor transcriptomes at different developmental stages provides evidence that proprioceptor subtype identities emerge late in development. Together, our data provide comprehensive molecular signatures for groups Ia and II MS afferents and group Ib GTO afferents, enabling genetic interrogation of the role of individual proprioceptor subtypes in regulating motor output.
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