Scientists come in contact with the biology of underlying pain
Scientists come in contact with the biology of underlying pain
Scientists come in contact with the biology of underlying pain
Thanks to the results of two studies, scientists now understand better why sensory neurons sometimes register light touches as painful (a common and debilitating condition called mechanical allodynia) following injury in mice and humans.
They identified an ion channel involved in the signaling of sensory neurons as the underlying culprit of the development of hypersensitivity to pain, a finding that could lead to new therapeutic strategies for allodynia.
Humans and other mammals contain distinct subsets of sensory neurons that can distinguish between sensations such as the brush of a feather and the prick of a spine. However, inflammation, nerve injury and other forms of trauma can alter these sensations, making innocuous touches intensely painful.
This condition is an important concern for researchers and clinicians working in the field of clinical pain, but further research is needed to determine the factors that distort the perception of pain at the molecular level.
(Photo: M. Szczot et al., Science Translational Medicine (2018))
Swetha Murthy and his colleagues focused on the function of the Piezo2 ion channel, which had previously been shown to play a key role in tactile sensation. After discovering that activation of the Piezo2-expressing neurons induced pain sensations in mice, the researchers found that Piezo2-deficient rodents did not register pain in response to soft strokes in several models of mechanical allodynia.
In a second study, Marcin Szczot and his colleagues used imaging techniques to study sensory neurons in mice and observed that Piezo2 was necessary for responses to mild mechanical stimuli (including air puffs and vibrations) but not for normal pain sensation. . They also identified four individuals with mutations that resulted in the loss of Piezo2 function and noted that they did not perceive as painful soft brushes when applied to a swollen spot on the forearm, indicating that the Piezo2 function blockade could prevent the Allodynia without affecting the responses to normal pain. (Source: AAAS)
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