Publications

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Journal Articles


Synchrony within Aβ mechanoreceptor subtypes governs signal propagation to primary somatosensory cortex

Published in bioRxiv (preprint), 2026

This study uses optogenetics with a fast channelrhodopsin variant (CatCh) to reveal how temporal patterns and synchrony of activity within Aβ low threshold mechanoreceptor subtypes control signal propagation to primary somatosensory cortex. We found that sustained cortical responses require synchronous activation of multiple Aβ SAI-LTMRs, while Aβ RAI-LTMRs drive robust cortical responses even with asynchronous activation.

Recommended citation: Wanyi Liu, Andrew E. Worthy, Alan J. Emanuel (2026). Synchrony within Aβ mechanoreceptor subtypes governs signal propagation to primary somatosensory cortex. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.01.16.700009
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Spinal V1 inhibitory interneuron clades differ in birthdate, projections to motoneurons, and heterogeneity

Published in eLife, 2024

This study characterizes the various subtypes (“clades”) of spinal V1 interneurons, describing their relative neurogenesis times, their distributions throughout the lumbar spinal cord, and their connections to motoneurons. It also investigates the molecular identities of further subdivisions within the Foxp2-V1 clade, and demonstrates that some of these Foxp2-V1s have connectivity that resembles reciprocal Ia inhibitory interneurons (IaINs).

Recommended citation: Andrew E Worthy, Joanna T Anderson, Alicia R Lane, Laura J Gomez-Perez, Anthony A Wang, Ronald W Griffith, Andre F Rivard, Jay B Bikoff, Francisco J Alvarez (2024) Spinal V1 inhibitory interneuron clades differ in birthdate, projections to motoneurons, and heterogeneity eLife 13:RP95172. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.95172.3
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Mucoidy, a general mechanism for maintaining lytic phage in populations of bacteria

Published in FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 2020

This study demonstrates that overproduction of exopolysaccharides, “mucoidy”, allows bacterial populations to be resistant to lytic bacteriophage infection. We found that spontaneous reversion from the mucoid state to the susceptible non-mucoid state allows these phage-resistant bacterial populations to maintain lytic viruses without greatly affecting the bacterial population density.

Recommended citation: Waqas Chaudhry, Esther Lee, Andrew Worthy, Zoe Weiss, Marcin Grabowicz, Nicole Vega, Bruce Levin, Mucoidy, a general mechanism for maintaining lytic phage in populations of bacteria, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, Volume 96, Issue 10, October 2020, fiaa162, https://doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiaa162
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