Joint Public Review: Touch Receptor End-Organ Innervation and Function Require Sensory Neuron Expression of the Transcription Factor Meis2

The study by Desiderio and colleagues used a conditional knock-out mouse model to investigate the role of the transcription factor Meis2 in the perception of light touch. The absence of Meis2 led to significantly reduced sensitivity to touch stimuli, various innervation defects, and extensive gene expression differences, including changes in synaptic proteins and components of neurotransmission. The study identified Gabra1 and Gabra4 as upregulated and Gabrr1 as downregulated genes in MEIS2 cKO animals, suggesting a potential change in GABA-receptor subunit composition in LMTRs. Despite these findings, the study faced limitations such as a small sample size and ambiguities in data presentation. The researchers concluded that Meis2 plays a crucial role in sensory neuron expression and function, but further research is needed to clarify some of the findings.