Immunostaining and FACS sorting of α9 integrin and kindlin-1-expressing DRG neurons. A, A typical section from a DRG injected with α9 integrin and kindlin-1 viruses, with 75% co-transduction. B, The multigated approach of sorting dissociated GFP-expressing DRG neurons using the BD Aria III Flow Cytometer. Dissociated rat nestin-GFP left C5–C8 DRG cells were used as positive control to adjust forward and side scatters for doublet discrimination and debris exclusion. A pure population of single dissociated GFP-expressing DRG neurons, ∼2.5% of the total cell population, was obtained. C, A small sample of sorted DRG neurons were cultured and analyzed for α9 integrin and kindlin-1 co-expression, and co-stained with CGRP or NF200 for verification.