Ariel J. Levine

Expression and localization of NMDA receptor GluN2 subunits in dorsal horn pain circuits across sex, species, and late postnatal development

The paper investigates the expression and localization of NMDA receptor GluN2 subunits in dorsal horn pain circuits across sex, species, and development, finding conserved expression but species- and development-specific localization patterns.

A spinal substrate for modular control of natural behavior

The paper identifies a spinal neuronal population that autonomously generates a modular motor pattern during jumping in mice, supporting the concept of spinal modular motor control.

Ontogeny of the spinal cord dorsal horn

This paper investigates how the dorsal horn of the spinal cord develops, showing that neurons are diversified by time and spatial-molecular gradients, leading to the formation of laminae.

Innovations in spinal cord cell type heterogeneity across vertebrate evolution

The paper compares spinal cord cell types across vertebrates, finding conserved developmental programs and divergent adult compositions, with mammalian-specific neuropeptide expression in the dorsal spinal cord.

Molecular and spatial profiling of the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus

The paper identifies five molecularly distinct PVT neuronal subtypes using snRNA-seq and reveals their spatial organization and connectivity with cortical areas.

A Cellular Taxonomy of the Adult Human Spinal Cord

This paper presents a cellular taxonomy of the adult human spinal cord using single nucleus RNA-sequencing and spatial transcriptomics, identifying 29 glial and 35 neuronal clusters and highlighting motoneuron vulnerability to ALS.

Confronting false discoveries in single-cell differential expression

This study evaluates differential expression methods in single-cell transcriptomics, finding that many produce false discoveries due to ignoring biological variation.

A Single Cell Atlas of Spared Tissue Below a Spinal Cord Injury Reveals Cellular Mechanisms of Repair

The paper profiles single nucleus RNA-seq data from spinal cord tissue after injury to identify repair-related cellular mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets.

A spinoparabrachial circuit defined by Tacr1 expression drives pain

The paper identifies a spinoparabrachial circuit involving Tacr1-expressing neurons that modulates ongoing pain responses and suppresses itch.

A Harmonized Atlas of Spinal Cord Cell Types and Their Computational Classification

The paper harmonizes six spinal cord single-cell studies to create a unified atlas, revealing cell type organization and optimizing computational classification based on transcriptomic data.

Cell type prioritization in single-cell data

The paper introduces a machine-learning method, Augur, to identify cell types most responsive to biological perturbations in single-cell data and validates it on multiple datasets.