Ewan St. John Smith
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psalmotoxin.bsky.social
Ewan St. John Smith
@psalmotoxin.bsky.social
1.9K followers 1K following 1.1K posts
👨🏻‍🔬& 👨🏻‍🏫🏳️‍🌈Neuroscientist in Cambridge UK interested in the neurobiology of pain and everything to do with naked mole-rats. 🏃🏻‍♂️, 📖 & 🤘
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psalmotoxin.bsky.social
Swapped wet & windy Cambridge for wet & windy (& warmer!) San Diego, which definitely has bigger boats than Cambridge 😅

Pre-symposium warm up 🏃🏻‍♂️ = ✅: if you’re at @sfn.org & want to know more about pain, come along this afternoon 👇
Me halfway round run with USS Midway in the background
November 15, 2025 at 3:40 PM
psalmotoxin.bsky.social
Very wet & windy this morning, & extra early start as 🚕, 🚊, 🚇, ✈️ & San Diego / @sfn.org await, but 🏃🏻‍♂️ = ✅
Me recovering post-run
November 14, 2025 at 6:38 AM
psalmotoxin.bsky.social
With the annual @sfn.org meeting coming up, I'm looking forward to Saturday's symposium with @cherylstucky.bsky.social , @mdburton.bsky.social & Anne-Marie Heegaard on non-neuronal cells in #PainResearch

Here's our accompanying review!
www.jneurosci.org/content/45/4...
Figure 1. Non-neuronal–neuron communication in the skin. (1) Non-neuronal cells and extracellular matrix in the skin. (2) When in ammatory events such as IL-6, ATP, and protease production from injury or infection are introduced, it causes an activation of cells, a disruption in extracellular matrix, and damage to sensory neurons. (3) During in ammatory cascades, injured or sensitized neurons potentiate pain and the development of a chronic pain state. Figure 2. Cell–cell interactions in joint pain. Numerous pathogenic changes occur within the OA joint and other musculoskeletal conditions that can contribute to pain, including cartilage degradation, synovitis, and bone remodeling (1). Within the joint evidence has established the role of some key non-neuronal cell types that contribute to pain (2) and some of the signaling nociceptor activation and sensitization mechanisms involved (3). There is also growing evidence for cell–cell interactions within the DRG that contribute to pain (4). See text for more details. Figure 3. Keratinocytes contribute to normal touch and chemotherapy-induced mechanical sensitivity through PIEZO1. Keratinocytes in the most super cial layer of the skin respond to mechanical forces via their expression of PIEZO1 channels and activated keratinocytes release ATP which signals to P2X4 channels on cutaneous sensory nerve endings. After a patient is treated with the chemotherapeutic paclitaxel, keratinocyte PIEZO1 is sensitized; the keratinocytes release more ATP and additional mediators, resulting in greater action potential signaling in sensory neurons that is sent to the spinal cord and brain through touch and pain pathways.
November 12, 2025 at 6:19 PM
psalmotoxin.bsky.social
Wet, windy, & lots of puddle hopping required, but 🏃🏻‍♂️ = ✅
Me recovering post-run
November 12, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Reposted by Ewan St. John Smith
artologica.net
Here's the lineup of #sfn25 artist exhibitors all on one page
SfN 2025 Art of Neuroscience
Full list of Exhibitors
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Reposted by Ewan St. John Smith
iasp.bsky.social
Submit your Painhack project for the 2026 World Congress on Pain in Bangkok, Thailand. During the Painhack, interdisciplinary teams will collaborate to develop new ideas and methods to address key challenges in pain research and management. Submission Deadline: 21 November. bit.ly/4nB9tM7
Call for Painhack Projects
November 11, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Ewan St. John Smith
oacjournal.bsky.social
How did Zhou et al. monitor the temporal profiling of lipid mediators in the synovium and tibial plateau during joint inflammation🧐? Learn out this work in this month's #EditorsChoice paper for #Basic #Science.
🔗
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
November 10, 2025 at 12:39 PM
psalmotoxin.bsky.social
Cool & sunny out this morning, great weather for 🏃🏻‍♂️ = ✅
Still lake reflects blue sky and trees Me halfway round with autumnal trees and river in background
November 9, 2025 at 9:03 AM
psalmotoxin.bsky.social
Slow start to this #Caturday 😺😺😺
Henry, black cat, laying on the cat tree Bertie, grey cat, dozing on the bed Matilda, white cat, lying half upside down on the floor
November 8, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Reposted by Ewan St. John Smith
🚨New paper from the NIH PRECISION Human Pain Network! We built a human DRG reference atlas: >500K cells from 126 donors to reveal 22 neuronal & 10 non-neuronal cell types. New insights into human sensory biology!
Paper: biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Data: humandrg.painseq.com
biorxiv.org
November 7, 2025 at 4:43 AM
psalmotoxin.bsky.social
Misty out round Cambridge this morning: Friday short 🏃🏻‍♂️ = ✅
Me recovering post-run
November 7, 2025 at 7:04 AM
Reposted by Ewan St. John Smith
tedpricethepainguy.bsky.social
After some hangups in getting the data available on SPARC, our Nageotte nodule Visium data described in this paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41... is now freely available to download on SPARC: discover.pennsieve.io/datasets/490
Nageotte nodules in human dorsal root ganglia reveal neurodegeneration in diabetic peripheral neuropathy - Nature Communications
Nageotte nodules in the dorsal root ganglia were first described 100 years ago, but little is known about them. Here, the authors link Nageotte nodules to neurodegeneration in diabetic neuropathy in h...
www.nature.com
November 6, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Reposted by Ewan St. John Smith
psalmotoxin.bsky.social
To the colon! Acidic buffer virtually FAILED to activate lumbar splanchnic nerves from KO 🐭. a couple of years on from when @LukePaine4 first showed me the data I am still 🤯
(A) Representative rate histograms and (B) mean response profiles of GPR68+/+ (grey) and GPR68-/- (orange) colonic afferent activity in response to bath application of pH 6.5-4.0; shaded area is SEM (GPR68+/+ vs GPR68-/- main effect: P = <0.0001; two-way ANOVA; F(1,87) = 26.47). (C) Peak afferent activity at each pH (GPR68+/+ vs GPR68-/- unpaired t-test (or non-parametric equivalent); pH 6.5, P = 0.9126, t, df = 0.1115, 16; pH 6.0, P = 0.0074 (U = 18); pH 5.5, P = 0.003 (U = 10); pH 5.0, P = 0.0106 (U = 12); pH 4.0, P = 0.0008 (U = 10); N = 9-11 animals). (D) Area under the curve (AUC) for afferent responses across the pH range (GPR68+/+ vs GPR68-/- unpaired t-test (or non-parametric equivalent); pH 6.5, P = 0.2430, t, df = 1.212, 16; pH 6.0, P = 0.1145 (U = 32); pH 5.5, P = 0.003 (U = 10); pH 5.0, P = 0.0106 (U = 12); pH 4.0, P = 0.0015 (U = 12); N = 9-11 animals). U refers to the Mann-Whitney U statistic.
November 4, 2025 at 4:49 PM
psalmotoxin.bsky.social
Warm out this morning for early November + dead legs = not much fun, but 🏃🏻‍♂️ = ✅
Me recovering post-run
November 5, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Reposted by Ewan St. John Smith
psalmotoxin.bsky.social
A new #PainResearch paper from us at @phar.cam.ac.uk 😃 Led by Luke Paine from the Bulmer Lab, supported by @javimmunopain.bsky.social & others, & it’s all about acid; not the hallucinogenic kind, but rather H+ www.cmghjournal.org/article/S235...
GPR68, a proton-sensing GPCR, mediates acid-induced visceral nociception
Localised acidification from immune cell infiltration and heightened glycolysis contributes to colitis pathology by activating acid-sensing receptors such as GPR68, a proton-sensing GPCR expressed on ...
www.cmghjournal.org
November 4, 2025 at 4:49 PM
psalmotoxin.bsky.social
A new #PainResearch paper from us at @phar.cam.ac.uk 😃 Led by Luke Paine from the Bulmer Lab, supported by @javimmunopain.bsky.social & others, & it’s all about acid; not the hallucinogenic kind, but rather H+ www.cmghjournal.org/article/S235...
GPR68, a proton-sensing GPCR, mediates acid-induced visceral nociception
Localised acidification from immune cell infiltration and heightened glycolysis contributes to colitis pathology by activating acid-sensing receptors such as GPR68, a proton-sensing GPCR expressed on ...
www.cmghjournal.org
November 4, 2025 at 4:49 PM
psalmotoxin.bsky.social
Looking rather autumnal, it’s almost 5-years to the day that I collected some acorns from Coldfall Wood, an ancient woodland in the heart of London, & decided to grown some oaks!
4 pots showing first sign of life as plant pushes through soil, 29.10.20 Oak tree growing up, 02.11.20 3 oak plants outside in pots all with multiple leaves, 12.06.21 Biggest of the bunch, oak tree with brown leaves, 01.11.25
November 2, 2025 at 10:15 AM
psalmotoxin.bsky.social
Wet & grey start to the day, with jet lag thrown in for fun, but November half marathon 🏃🏻‍♂️ = ✅…should aid circadian reset & help with sleeping tonight 😅
Me standing in a tree lined tunnel halfway round
November 2, 2025 at 8:30 AM
psalmotoxin.bsky.social
Happy #Caturday 😺😺😺 Great to be back in Cambridge & greeted by these 3!
Henry, black cat, sitting on the windowsill Bertie, grey cat, sitting in his box with head poking out Matilda, white cat, striding along the worktop
November 1, 2025 at 6:47 PM
psalmotoxin.bsky.social
#PainResearch
jgp.org Journal of General Physiology @jgp.org · 16d
Altered Naᵥ1.9 channel activity in two Tyr66Ser variant carriers with small fiber dysfunction. new study from Noortje van den Braak, Maike Dohrn and colleagues @rwth.bsky.social: rupress.org/jgp/article/...

#Pathophysiology #MolecularPhysiology #Nerve
October 31, 2025 at 1:45 PM
psalmotoxin.bsky.social
Friday short 🏃🏻‍♂️ = ✅ & last day in Shanghai, which has been a blast!
View of river and trees at Gongqing Forest Park View over Shanghai from Shanghai Tower earlier Exhibit at the Power Station of Art Me halfway round
October 30, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Reposted by Ewan St. John Smith
wormsense.bsky.social
Molecular & Cellular Physiology (MCP) Monday

We are recruiting a tenure-track assistant professor to join the Dept of Molecular & Cellular Physiology at Stanford. Apply to be our colleague 1/n
facultypositions.stanford.edu/en-us/job/49...
Stanford | Faculty Positions: Details - Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology
facultypositions.stanford.edu
October 27, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Reposted by Ewan St. John Smith
oacjournal.bsky.social
#New research highlights the key role of the NGF/TrkA pathway in chronic #OA pain. Through gene expression analysis, specific genes and pathways linked to OA progression were found, offering insights for targeted therapies against OA pain. #PainResearch
📖:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
October 28, 2025 at 1:19 PM
psalmotoxin.bsky.social
Lovely morning in Shanghai & 🏃🏻‍♂️ = ✅
Me halfway round with river and bridge in background
October 28, 2025 at 11:49 PM
psalmotoxin.bsky.social
Great to meet up with former visiting student Guangbing,give a talk, & discuss research at Tongji University - another day of great hospitality!
Guangbing and I at entrance to Tongji Me finishing lecture!
October 27, 2025 at 2:13 PM