Vijay Samineni
Washington University in St Louis, MO·Neuroscience
Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) is a painful condition. People with it lose bladder control and feel severe pain as the bladder fills.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Physiology
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
interstitial cystitis
bladder pain syndrome
overactive bladder
- Grants
- 3 known grants, through Jun 2029
What they work on
- Determine whether cystitis causes harmful changes in two spinal cord neuron populations the team found, and test whether changing their activity eases bladder pain and abnormal voiding.
- Test whether spinal cord cells activated by cystitis are needed for abnormal urination and bladder pain, using chemogenetics (drug-controlled neurons) and optogenetics (light-controlled neurons).
- Map how cystitis-activated spinal cells relay bladder information to distinct brain regions, and profile these cells' genes with transcriptomics and fluorescent in situ hybridization.
- Test whether brainstem neurons that project to the spinal cord change in IC/BPS and drive symptoms, using optogenetics, tracing, in vivo calcium imaging, slice electrophysiology and RNA sequencing.
- Ask whether reversing harmful changes in brainstem–spinal circuits relieves bladder pain and loss of bladder control in models of IC/BPS.
More about the research
Its cause is unknown, and it is poorly treated. One reason is that scientists do not know which nerve cells in the spinal cord and brainstem process bladder signals. Some of these signals are normal sensations about filling and emptying. Others are painful ones, such as intense pressure or discomfort. The three grants in this portfolio trace this circuitry cell type by cell type. The goal is to find which neurons drive the abnormal urination and pain seen in cystitis (bladder inflammation).
Why it matters
IC/BPS causes chronic bladder pain and urgency, and there is no effective treatment. Identifying the exact spinal cord and brainstem neurons that drive pain and abnormal urination could give drug developers specific cells and circuits to target. That could open new routes toward safer, more targeted therapies for patients with this condition.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Elucidating Roles of Distinct Spinal Cord Cell types in Mediating Interstitial Cystitis (IC)/Bladder Pain Syndrome (BPS)
NIH · Aug 2024 – Jun 2029
Spinal Mechanisms Underlying Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndromes (IC/BPS)
NIH · Jun 2024 – Apr 2029
Neural Mechanisms Underlying IC/BPS
NIH · May 2021 – Feb 2027
Closest labs
Sylvia Suadicani
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY·Neuroscience
Test whether bladder or colon injury enhances signaling between dorsal root ganglia (DRG) sensory neurons and their wrapping satellite glial cells, using established mouse models of direct bladder and colon insult with behavioral, functional and molecular measures.
John Archie Pollock
Duquesne University, PA·Neuroscience
Define which RNA splice isoforms of ATF3, an injury-responsive transcription factor, underlie sex differences in pain and pain relief in rat dorsal root ganglia after sciatic nerve constriction.
Holly A. Ingraham
University of California-San Francisco, CA·Neuroscience
Identify the inhibitory neurons in Barrington's nucleus that block urination and defecation, and map their projections to the spinal cord regions controlling the bladder or colon in mice.
The school
Washington University in St Louis: 97 labs on PI Pages, $1.2B a year on research, 365 research doctorates a year.
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