Wenqin Luo, M.D, Ph.D
Professor of Neuroscience
Professor of Institute for Regenerative Medicine (IRM), University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Director of the Penn High Precision Pain Center (HPPC), Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine
Department: Neuroscience
Graduate Group Affiliations
Contact information
University of Pennsylvania
Department of Neuroscience
3610 Hamilton Walk
145 Johnson Pavilion
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Department of Neuroscience
3610 Hamilton Walk
145 Johnson Pavilion
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 215-573-7281
Lab: 215-573-7275
Lab: 215-573-7275
Email:
luow@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
luow@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Education:
MD (Medicine)
Hunan Medical University, 1996.
MS (Molecular Biology and Biochemistry)
Peking Union Medical College, 1999.
PhD (Neuroscience)
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 2005.
Permanent linkMD (Medicine)
Hunan Medical University, 1996.
MS (Molecular Biology and Biochemistry)
Peking Union Medical College, 1999.
PhD (Neuroscience)
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 2005.
Description of Research Expertise
Research Interests: Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms underlying Mammalian Somatosensation & Molecular and Cellular architecture of the human peripheral nervous systemKeywords: Pain, Itch, Touch, DRG, TG, Migraine, Human Peripheral Nervous System (PNS), Mouse Genetics
Research Details:
The ability to sense the external world is critical for both survival and propagation of an organism. In accordance with that, vertebrates have developed highly specified sensory organs and parallel afferent pathways to sense different stimuli. A current task and reachable goal now in the mammalian sensory neurobiology is to reveal the molecular and cellular architecture of the human sensory system at baseline and pathological conditions.
In my lab, we use a combination of molecular and cellular techniques, primary human tissues, LCM-based single-soma deep RNA-seq of human DRG/TG or other PNS ganglion neurons, spatial transcriptomics, mouse genetic tools (conditional knockout, optogenetics, and chemogenetics), physiological recordings, and AI (deep-learning network)-assisted histological and behavioral assays and data analysis to study the following questions: 1. What are molecular and cellular architecture of human somatosensory ganglion neurons that render human somatosensation? 2. What are the changes in human pathological pain conditions, such as migraine? 3. What are molecular and cellular architecture of human peripheral efferent neurons and ganglia? 4. Dissect evolutionarily conserved molecular and cellular mechanisms using mouse genetic tools. 5. Developing new translational reagents to treat pathological/chronic pain and itch conditions. Taken together, work from my lab will lead to a better understanding of the human peripheral somatosensory system and the peripheral nervous system in general and open new avenues for treating chronic pain and itch and other PNS related diseases/conditions.
Luo lab website:
https://www.med.upenn.edu/luolab/
Selected Publications
Juan M Inclan-Rico, Adriana Stephenson, Camila M Napuri, Heather L Rossi, Li-Yin Hung, Christopher F Pastore, Wenqin Luo, De'Broski R Herbert: TRPV1+ neurons promote cutaneous immunity against Schistosoma mansoni. Journal of Immunology Aug 2025.Bryan A Copits, Michele Curatolo, Patrick M Dougherty, Robert W Gereau IV*, Wenqin Luo*, Maryann Martone, Hakan Olausson, Theodore J Price*, William Renthal*, Clifford J Woolf, Guoyan Zhao, NIH PRECISION Human Pain Network: Human pain neuroscience and the next generation of pain therapeutics. Neuron 113(9), May 2025.
Yu H, Simpson E, Cronin C, Rico J, Luo W: A Standard Operating Protocol for the Processing of Human Trigeminal Ganglia Tissue for Different Experiments. https://www.protocols.io/view/a-standard-operating-protocol-for-the-processing-o-6qpvrqjyzlmk/v1 2025.
Toikumo S, Parisien M, Leone M, Srinivasan C, Yu H, Arendt-Tranholm A, Franco-Enzastiga U, Hofstetter C, Curatolo M, Luo W, Pfenning A.R., Seal R.P., Kember R.L., Price T.J., Diatchenko L, Waxman S.G., Kranzler H.R.: Etiological basis for chronic pain genetic variation in brain and dorsal root ganglia cell types. Journal of Clinical Investigation In Press, 2025.
Yu, H., & Luo, W: Deep RNA sequencing of human dorsal root ganglion neurons reveals somatosensory mechanisms. Nature Neuroscience 27(12): 2276–2277, Nov 2024.
Yu H, Nagi S, Usoskin D, Hu Y, Kupari J, Otmane B, Yan H, Cranfill S, Gautam M, Su Y, Lv Y, Wymer J, Glanz M, Albrecht P, Song H, Ming G, Prouty S, Seykora J, Wu H, Ma M, Marshall A, Rice F, Li M, Olausson H*, Ernfors P*, Luo W*: Leveraging Deep Single-soma RNA Sequencing to Explore the Neural Basis of Human Somatosensa-tion. Nature Neuroscience Nov 2024.
Inclan-Rico J.M., Napuri C. M., Lin C, Hung L-Y, Ferguson A. A., Liu X, Wu Q, Pastore C.F., Stephenson A., Femoe U. M., Musaigwa F., Rossi H. L., Freedman B. D., Reed D. R., Macháček T., Horák P., Abdus-Saboor I., Luo W., Herbert D.R.* : MrgprA3 neurons drive cutaneous immunity against helminths through selective control of myeloid-derived IL-33. Nature Immunology Oct 2024.
Yamada A, Gautam M, Yamada A. I., Ling J., Gupta S., Furue H., Luo W, Gu J.G. : Acid-sensing ion channels drive the generation of tactile impulses in Merkel cell-neurite complexes of the glabrous skin of rodent hindpaws Journal of Neuroscience Oct 2024.
Gautam M., Yamada A., Yamada A. I., Wu Q, Kridsada K., Ling J., Yu H., Dong P., Ma M., Gu J.*, Luo W*: Distinct Local and Global Functions of Aβ Low-Threshold Mechanoreceptors in Mechanical Pain Transmission. Nature Communication April 2024.
Guo C., Jiang H., Huang C. C., Li F., Olson W., Yang W., Fleming M., Yu G., Hoekel G., Luo W., Liu Q.: Pain and itch coding mechanisms of polymodal sensory neurons. Cell Reports Nov 2023.
Contact Us
Department of Neuroscience
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
415 Curie Blvd
Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 898-8754
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