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Zhou L, Su S, Yu J, Wan S, Xu X, Li X, Xiong M, Tian W, Wang L, Wu Y, Ke C. Schnurri-2 promotes the expression of excitatory glutamate receptors and contributes to neuropathic pain. Neuroscience 2022; 488:20-31. [PMID: 35218885 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2022.02.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Revised: 02/10/2022] [Accepted: 02/18/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Neuropathic pain is a type of chronic pain with complex mechanisms, and current treatments have shown limited success in treating patients suffering from chronic pain. Accumulating evidence has shown that the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain is mediated by the plasticity of excitatory neurons in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, which provides insights into the treatment of hyperalgesia. In this study, we found that Schnurri-2 (Shn2) was significantly upregulated in the L4-L6 segments of the spinal cord of C57 mice with spared nerve injury, which was accompanied by an increase in GluN2D subunit and glutamate receptor subunit 1 (GluR1) levels. Knocking down the expression of Shn2 using a lentivirus in the spinal cord decreased the GluN2D subunit and GluR1 levels in spared nerve injury mice and eventually alleviated mechanical allodynia. In summary, Shn2 regulates neuropathic pain, promotes the upregulation of GluN2D in glutamatergic neurons and increases the accumulation of GluR1 in excitatory neurons. Taken together, our study provides a new underlying mechanism for the development of neuropathic pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lingyu Zhou
- Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou 121001, China; Institute of Anesthesiology & Pain (IAP), Department of Anesthesiology, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan 442000, China
| | - Shanchun Su
- Institute of Anesthesiology & Pain (IAP), Department of Anesthesiology, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan 442000, China
| | - Jiaqi Yu
- Institute of Anesthesiology & Pain (IAP), Department of Anesthesiology, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan 442000, China
| | - Shengjun Wan
- Institute of Anesthesiology & Pain (IAP), Department of Anesthesiology, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan 442000, China
| | - Xueqin Xu
- Institute of Anesthesiology & Pain (IAP), Department of Anesthesiology, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan 442000, China
| | - Xiaohui Li
- Institute of Anesthesiology & Pain (IAP), Department of Anesthesiology, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan 442000, China
| | - Mengyuan Xiong
- Institute of Anesthesiology & Pain (IAP), Department of Anesthesiology, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan 442000, China
| | - Wei Tian
- Institute of Anesthesiology & Pain (IAP), Department of Anesthesiology, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan 442000, China
| | - Linhan Wang
- Institute of Anesthesiology & Pain (IAP), Department of Anesthesiology, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan 442000, China
| | - Yanqiong Wu
- Institute of Anesthesiology & Pain (IAP), Department of Anesthesiology, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan 442000, China
| | - Changbin Ke
- Institute of Anesthesiology & Pain (IAP), Department of Anesthesiology, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan 442000, China.
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Temi S, Rudyk C, Armstrong J, Landrigan JA, Dedek C, Salmaso N, Hildebrand ME. Differential expression of GluN2 NMDA receptor subunits in the dorsal horn of male and female rats. Channels (Austin) 2021; 15:179-192. [PMID: 33509021 PMCID: PMC7849732 DOI: 10.1080/19336950.2020.1871205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Revised: 01/01/2020] [Accepted: 12/29/2020] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are excitatory ionotropic glutamate receptors expressed throughout the CNS, including in the spinal dorsal horn. The GluN2 subtypes of NMDAR subunit, which include GluN2A, GluN2B, and GluN2D in the dorsal horn, confer NMDARs with structural and functional variability, enabling heterogeneity in synaptic transmission and plasticity. Despite essential roles for NMDARs in physiological and pathological pain processing, the distribution and function of these specific GluN2 isoforms across dorsal horn laminae remain poorly understood. Surprisingly, there is a complete lack of knowledge of GluN2 expression in female rodents. We, therefore, investigated the relative expression of specific GluN2 variants in the dorsal horn of lumbar (L4/L5) spinal cord from both male and female rats. In order to detect synaptic GluN2 isoforms, we used pepsin antigen-retrieval to unmask these highly cross-linked protein complexes. We found that GluN2B and GluN2D are preferentially localized to the pain-processing superficial regions of the dorsal horn in males, while only GluN2B is predominantly localized to the superficial dorsal horn of female rats. The GluN2A subunit is diffusely localized to neuropil throughout the dorsal horn of both males and females, while GluN2B and GluN2D immunolabelling are found both in the neuropil and on the soma of dorsal horn neurons. Finally, we identified an unexpected enhanced expression of GluN2B in the medial division of the superficial dorsal horn, but in males only. These sex-specific localization patterns of GluN2-NMDAR subunits across dorsal horn laminae have significant implications for the understanding of divergent spinal mechanisms of pain processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Santa Temi
- Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
| | | | | | | | - Chris Dedek
- Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
| | | | - Michael E. Hildebrand
- Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
- Neuroscience Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada
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Abstract
The chronification of pain can be attributed to changes in membrane receptors and channels underlying neuronal plasticity and signal transduction largely within nociceptive neurons that initiate and maintain pathological pain states. These proteins are subject to dynamic modification by posttranslational modifications, creating a code that controls protein function in time and space. Phosphorylation is an important posttranslational modification that affects ∼30% of proteins in vivo. Increased phosphorylation of various nociceptive ion channels and of their modulators underlies sensitization of different pain states. Cyclin-dependent kinases are proline-directed serine/threonine kinases that impact various biological and cellular systems. Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5), one member of this kinase family, and its activators p35 and p39 are expressed in spinal nerves, dorsal root ganglia, and the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. In neuropathic pain conditions, expression and/or activity of Cdk5 is increased, implicating Cdk5 in nociception. Experimental evidence suggests that Cdk5 is regulated through its own phosphorylation, through increasing p35's interaction with Cdk5, and through cleavage of p35 into p25. This narrative review discusses the molecular mechanisms of Cdk5-mediated regulation of target proteins involved in neuropathic pain. We focus on Cdk5 substrates that have been linked to nociceptive pathways, including channels (eg, transient receptor potential cation channel and voltage-gated calcium channel), proteins involved in neurotransmitter release (eg, synaptophysin and collapsin response mediator protein 2), and receptors (eg, glutamate, purinergic, and opioid). By altering the phosphoregulatory "set point" of proteins involved in pain signaling, Cdk5 thus appears to be an attractive target for treating neuropathic pain conditions.
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Austin PJ, Bembrick AL, Denyer GS, Keay KA. Injury-Dependent and Disability-Specific Lumbar Spinal Gene Regulation following Sciatic Nerve Injury in the Rat. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0124755. [PMID: 25905723 PMCID: PMC4408097 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0124755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2014] [Accepted: 03/06/2015] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Allodynia, hyperalgesia and spontaneous pain are cardinal sensory signs of neuropathic pain. Clinically, many neuropathic pain patients experience affective-motivational state changes, including reduced familial and social interactions, decreased motivation, anhedonia and depression which are severely debilitating. In earlier studies we have shown that sciatic nerve chronic constriction injury (CCI) disrupts social interactions, sleep-wake-cycle and endocrine function in one third of rats, a subgroup reliably identified six days after injury. CCI consistently produces allodynia and hyperalgesia, the intensity of which was unrelated either to the altered social interactions, sleep-wake-cycle or endocrine changes. This decoupling of the sensory consequences of nerve injury from the affective-motivational changes is reported in both animal experiments and human clinical data. The sensory changes triggered by CCI are mediated primarily by functional changes in the lumbar dorsal horn, however, whether lumbar spinal changes may drive different affective-motivational states has never been considered. In these studies, we used microarrays to identify the unique transcriptomes of rats with altered social behaviours following sciatic CCI to determine whether specific patterns of lumbar spinal adaptations characterised this subgroup. Rats underwent CCI and on the basis of reductions in dominance behaviour in resident-intruder social interactions were categorised as having Pain & Disability, Pain & Transient Disability or Pain alone. We examined the lumbar spinal transcriptomes two and six days after CCI. Fifty-four ‘disability-specific’ genes were identified. Sixty-five percent were unique to Pain & Disability rats, two-thirds of which were associated with neurotransmission, inflammation and/or cellular stress. In contrast, 40% of genes differentially regulated in rats without disabilities were involved with more general homeostatic processes (cellular structure, transcription or translation). We suggest that these patterns of gene expression lead to either the expression of disability, or to resilience and recovery, by modifying local spinal circuitry at the origin of ascending supraspinal pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul J. Austin
- School of Medical Sciences (Anatomy & Histology), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Alison L. Bembrick
- School of Medical Sciences (Anatomy & Histology), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Gareth S. Denyer
- School of Molecular Bioscience, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Kevin A. Keay
- School of Medical Sciences (Anatomy & Histology), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- * E-mail:
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Bourinet E, Altier C, Hildebrand ME, Trang T, Salter MW, Zamponi GW. Calcium-permeable ion channels in pain signaling. Physiol Rev 2014; 94:81-140. [PMID: 24382884 DOI: 10.1152/physrev.00023.2013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 221] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The detection and processing of painful stimuli in afferent sensory neurons is critically dependent on a wide range of different types of voltage- and ligand-gated ion channels, including sodium, calcium, and TRP channels, to name a few. The functions of these channels include the detection of mechanical and chemical insults, the generation of action potentials and regulation of neuronal firing patterns, the initiation of neurotransmitter release at dorsal horn synapses, and the ensuing activation of spinal cord neurons that project to pain centers in the brain. Long-term changes in ion channel expression and function are thought to contribute to chronic pain states. Many of the channels involved in the afferent pain pathway are permeable to calcium ions, suggesting a role in cell signaling beyond the mere generation of electrical activity. In this article, we provide a broad overview of different calcium-permeable ion channels in the afferent pain pathway and their role in pain pathophysiology.
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GluN2B and GluN2D NMDARs dominate synaptic responses in the adult spinal cord. Sci Rep 2014; 4:4094. [PMID: 24522697 PMCID: PMC3923208 DOI: 10.1038/srep04094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2013] [Accepted: 01/30/2014] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The composition of the postsynaptic ionotropic receptors that receive presynaptically released transmitter is critical not only for transducing and integrating electrical signals but also for coordinating downstream biochemical signaling pathways. At glutamatergic synapses in the adult CNS an overwhelming body of evidence indicates that the NMDA receptor (NMDAR) component of synaptic responses is dominated by NMDARs containing the GluN2A subunit, while NMDARs containing GluN2B, GluN2C, or GluN2D play minor roles in synaptic transmission. Here, we discovered NMDAR-mediated synaptic responses with characteristics not described elsewhere in the adult CNS. We found that GluN2A-containing receptors contribute little to synaptic NMDAR responses while GluN2B dominates at synapses of lamina I neurons in the adult spinal cord. In addition, we provide evidence for a GluN2D-mediated synaptic NMDAR component in adult lamina I neurons. Strikingly, the charge transfer mediated by GluN2D far exceeds that of GluN2A and is comparable to that of GluN2B. Lamina I forms a distinct output pathway from the spinal pain processing network to the pain networks in the brain. The GluN2D-mediated synaptic responses we have discovered in lamina I neurons provide the molecular underpinning for slow, prolonged and feedforward amplification that is a fundamental characteristic of pain.
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Platt RJ, Curtice KJ, Twede VD, Watkins M, Gruszczyński P, Bulaj G, Horvath MP, Olivera BM. From molecular phylogeny towards differentiating pharmacology for NMDA receptor subtypes. Toxicon 2014; 81:67-79. [PMID: 24508768 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2014.01.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2013] [Revised: 01/11/2014] [Accepted: 01/29/2014] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
In order to decode the roles that N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors play in excitatory neurotransmission, synaptic plasticity, and neuropathologies, there is need for ligands that differ in their subtype selectivity. The conantokin family of Conus peptides is the only group of peptidic natural products known to target NMDA receptors. Using a search that was guided by phylogeny, we identified new conantokins from the marine snail Conus bocki that complement the current repertoire of NMDA receptor pharmacology. Channel currents measured in Xenopus oocytes demonstrate conantokins conBk-A, conBk-B, and conBk-C have highest potencies for NR2D containing receptors, in contrast to previously characterized conantokins that preferentially block NR2B containing NMDA receptors. Conantokins are rich in γ-carboxyglutamate, typically 17-34 residues, and adopt helical structure in a calcium-dependent manner. As judged by CD spectroscopy, conBk-C adopts significant helical structure in a calcium ion-dependent manner, while calcium, on its own, appears insufficient to stabilize helical conformations of conBk-A or conBk-B. Molecular dynamics simulations help explain the differences in calcium-stabilized structures. Two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy shows that the 9-residue conBk-B is relatively unstructured but forms a helix in the presence of TFE and calcium ions that is similar to other conantokin structures. These newly discovered conantokins hold promise that further exploration of small peptidic antagonists will lead to a set of pharmacological tools that can be used to characterize the role of NMDA receptors in nervous system function and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Randall J Platt
- Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Kigen J Curtice
- Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
| | - Vernon D Twede
- Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Maren Watkins
- Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Paweł Gruszczyński
- Medicinal Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA; Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology and Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, 80-952 Gdańsk, Poland; Medical University of Gdańsk, 80-822 Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Grzegorz Bulaj
- Medicinal Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Martin P Horvath
- Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
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Bardoni R. Role of presynaptic glutamate receptors in pain transmission at the spinal cord level. Curr Neuropharmacol 2014; 11:477-83. [PMID: 24403871 PMCID: PMC3763755 DOI: 10.2174/1570159x11311050002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2013] [Revised: 02/21/2013] [Accepted: 03/16/2013] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Nociceptive primary afferents release glutamate, activating postsynaptic glutamate receptors on spinal cord dorsal horn neurons. Glutamate receptors, both ionotropic and metabotropic, are also expressed on presynaptic terminals, where they regulate neurotransmitter release. During the last two decades, a wide number of studies have characterized the properties of presynaptic glutamatergic receptors, particularly those expressed on primary afferent fibers. This review describes the subunit composition, distribution and function of presynaptic glutamate ionotropic (AMPA, NMDA, kainate) and metabotropic receptors expressed in rodent spinal cord dorsal horn. The role of presynaptic receptors in modulating nociceptive information in experimental models of acute and chronic pain will be also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rita Bardoni
- Department of Biomedical, metabolic and neural sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy
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Takanami K, Sakamoto H, Matsuda KI, Hosokawa K, Nishi M, Prossnitz ER, Kawata M. Expression of G protein-coupled receptor 30 in the spinal somatosensory system. Brain Res 2009; 1310:17-28. [PMID: 19912997 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2009.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2009] [Revised: 10/19/2009] [Accepted: 11/04/2009] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Estrogens were originally identified as the primary sex steroid hormones in females and regulators of reproductive function and sexual behavior, but it has long been suggested that estrogens also have local effects on the somatosensory system at the spinal cord level. It is well known that the effects of estrogens are mediated by nuclear estrogen receptors (ERs) through genomic action, but recently a membrane-bound G protein-coupled receptor, GPR30, was identified as a non-genomic estrogen receptor. In this study we investigated the presence and localization of GPR30 in the rat spinal cord and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) in comparison with ERalpha. Using immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization, we showed the expression of GPR30 in DRG neurons in male and female rats at mRNA and protein levels without specific sexual difference. A dense accumulation of GPR30 immunoreactivity was observed in the outer layer of the spinal dorsal horn, and selective spinal dorsal rhizotomy revealed that GPR30 was transported from the DRG to terminals located in the spinal dorsal horn. GPR30 expression was downregulated in DRG neurons of ovariectomized female rats. The spinal somatosensory system might be modulated by estradiol via putative membrane ER, GPR30-mediated mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keiko Takanami
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kawaramachi-Hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan
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Larsson M. Ionotropic glutamate receptors in spinal nociceptive processing. Mol Neurobiol 2009; 40:260-88. [PMID: 19876771 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-009-8086-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2009] [Accepted: 09/29/2009] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Glutamate is the predominant excitatory transmitter used by primary afferent synapses and intrinsic neurons in the spinal cord dorsal horn. Accordingly, ionotropic glutamate receptors mediate basal spinal transmission of sensory, including nociceptive, information that is relayed to supraspinal centers. However, it has become gradually more evident that these receptors are also crucially involved in short- and long-term plasticity of spinal nociceptive transmission, and that such plasticity have an important role in the pain hypersensitivity that may result from tissue or nerve injury. This review will cover recent findings on pre- and postsynaptic regulation of synaptic function by ionotropic glutamate receptors in the dorsal horn and how such mechanisms contribute to acute and chronic pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Max Larsson
- Department of Anatomy and Centre for Molecular Biology and Neuroscience, University of Oslo, Norway.
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