text: There are many anatomical sites within the somatosensory 
  nervous system where differential 
  loss of sensory neuron 
  populations could impact neurobiology. For example, loss of 
  cutaneous afferents may afford more opportunity for plasticity in 
  reinnervation patterns, such as collateral sprouting of uninjured or 
  surviving afferents, and the types of nerve endings made by 
  different molecular subpopulations.17,27 It also seems likely that the 
  death of many neurons within a DRG could contribute to the 
  expansion and activation of immune cell types, which are known to 
  play a major role in neuropathic pain.30,69 Finally, under normal 
  conditions, peripheral sensory input is integrated into the dorsal 
  horn of the spinal cord by complex interneuron circuitry. Many 
  spinal circuits are engaged by convergent input from different 
  afferent types.9,41,70 Therefore, selective loss of input from discrete 
  afferent types could undoubtedly impact the normal processing of 
  remaining afferent signals.34 Experimentally abrogating neuronal 
  loss may be a fruitful approach to assess the contribution to 
  nervous system plasticity (adaptive or maladaptive) following injury. 
  In this regard, our in vitro readout would be a useful experimental 