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BIDDEFORD, Maine

UNE research team publishes in leading neuroscience journal

Nociceptive neurons in a fruit fly larva
Nociceptive neurons in a fruit fly larva. The entire body wall of the animal is tiled with the rectangular dendritic arbors of nociceptive neurons. In this animal, DNA encoding the jellyfish-derived red fluorescent protein TdTomato was inserted into the fly genome in such a way that it is expressed only in the nociceptive neurons. This image of a live fly larva was taken by Taylor Follansbee, B.S. '13, M.S. '15 using a confocal laser-scanning microscope.

Professor of Biology Geoffrey Ganter, Ph.D., and his research team at the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ of New England published an original research paper in the top-rated Journal of Neuroscience.

Ganter’s team of UNE undergraduate and graduate students discovered a group of components that pain-perceiving neurons use to elevate their sensitivity after injury. When the researchers blocked these components genetically, injury-triggered pain sensitization was nearly abolished. These components may therefore represent targets for novel medications for the treatment of abnormal pain, including chronic pain, in humans.

The paper’s authors include UNE alumni and current students. The lead author of the study, Taylor Follansbee, B.S. ‘13, M.S. ’15 is now a Ph.D. student studying neuroscience at the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ of California, Davis. Kayla Gjelsvik, B.S. ‘15, M.S. ‘16 is currently a research assistant at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory in Salisbury Cove, Maine. Courtney Brann, B.S. ’16 is a graduate student in UNE’s Master’s of Biological Sciences program. Aidan McParland, B.S. ‘15, M.S. ‘16 is currently a medical student at the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ of Toronto in Canada. Colin Longhurst, B.S. ’15 went on to receive a master’s degree at the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ of Wisconsin, Madison where he is now a biostatistician.

The injury-induced sensitization paradigm was developed in Michael Galko’s laboratory at the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. The study was supported by a National Institutes of Health Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence grant awarded to Ian Meng, and a National Institutes of Health Academic Research Excellence Award to Ganter.

To learn more about UNE’s Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences, visit:

To learn more about UNE’s Center of Biomedical Research Excellence for the Study of pain and Sensory Function, visit

To apply, visit 

About the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ of New England

The ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study-abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. We are the state’s top provider of health professionals and home to Maine’s only medical and dental colleges, physician assistant program, and pharmacy school, in addition to a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care programs and nationally recognized programs in the marine sciences, the natural and social sciences, business, the humanities, and the arts.