Faculty

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Wenqin Luo, M.D, Ph.D

Professor of Neuroscience

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Department: Neuroscience

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1f Graduate Group Affiliations 8

46 Contact information
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University of Pennsylvania
22 Department of Neuroscience
1a 3610 Hamilton Walk
37 145 Johnson Pavilion
Philadelphia, PA 19104

2e Office: 215-573-7281
3e Lab: 215-573-7275
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Email:
luow@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

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13 Education:
21 7 MD 15 (Medicine) c
31 Hunan Medical University, 1996.
21 7 MS 2f (Molecular Biology and Biochemistry) c
35 Peking Union Medical College, 1999.
21 8 PhD 19 (Neuroscience) c
44 Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 2005.
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Links
62 Wenqin Luo lab webpage
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5 3 3 92 Permanent link
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b6 > Perelman School of Medicine > Faculty > Details a

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Description of Research Expertise

b8 Research Interests: Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms underlying Mammalian Somatosensation & Molecular and Cellular architecture of the human peripheral nervous system
6d Keywords: Pain, Itch, Touch, DRG, TG, Migraine, Human Peripheral Nervous System (PNS), Mouse Genetics
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19 Research Details:
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1c5 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.
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4ab 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.
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29 Luo lab website:
28 https://www.med.upenn.edu/luolab/
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Selected Publications

166 Cranfill S, Yu H, Wang Y, Inclan-Rico J, Janke E, Lezgiyeva K, Liu S, Chang A, Gooden S, Baker J, Shirvan S, Wu Q, Bhattarai1 J, Hill R, Ma M*, Luo W*: Asymmetric lateral habenula function and peripheral neural mechanisms in regulating itch-evoked scratching. Current Biology Dec 2025.

1af 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 Oct 2025.

13e 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.

187 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.

148 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.

80 Yu, H., & Luo, W: Deep RNA sequencing of human dorsal root ganglion neurons 6c reveals somatosensory mechanisms. Nature Neuroscience 27(12): 2276–2277, Nov 2024.

1ae 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.

11a 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.* ab : MrgprA3 neurons drive cutaneous immunity against helminths through selective control of myeloid-derived IL-33. Nature Immunology Oct 2024.

57 Yamada A, Gautam M, Yamada A. I., Ling J., 24 Gupta S., Furue H., Luo W, Gu J.G. 97 : Acid-sensing ion channels drive the generation of tactile impulses in Merkel cell-neurite complexes of the glabrous skin of rodent hindpaws 3a Journal of Neuroscience Oct 2024.

13b 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.

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26 Last updated: 02/09/2026
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