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Mauceri D. Role of Epigenetic Mechanisms in Chronic Pain. Cells 2022; 11:cells11162613. [PMID: 36010687 PMCID: PMC9406853 DOI: 10.3390/cells11162613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2022] [Revised: 08/19/2022] [Accepted: 08/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Pain is an unpleasant but essential-to-life sensation, usually resulting from tissue damage. When pain persists long after the injury has resolved, it becomes pathological. The precise molecular and cellular mechanisms causing the transition from acute to chronic pain are not fully understood. A key aspect of pain chronicity is that several plasticity events happen along the neural pathways involved in pain. These long-lasting adaptive changes are enabled by alteration in the expression of relevant genes. Among the different modulators of gene transcription in adaptive processes in the nervous system, epigenetic mechanisms play a pivotal role. In this review, I will first outline the main classes of epigenetic mediators and then discuss their implications in chronic pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Mauceri
- Department of Neurobiology, Interdisciplinary Centre for Neurosciences (IZN), Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
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Litke C, Hagenston AM, Kenkel AK, Paldy E, Lu J, Kuner R, Mauceri D. Organic anion transporter 1 is an HDAC4-regulated mediator of nociceptive hypersensitivity in mice. Nat Commun 2022; 13:875. [PMID: 35169129 PMCID: PMC8847565 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28357-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2021] [Accepted: 01/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Persistent pain is sustained by maladaptive changes in gene transcription resulting in altered function of the relevant circuits; therapies are still unsatisfactory. The epigenetic mechanisms and affected genes linking nociceptive activity to transcriptional changes and pathological sensitivity are unclear. Here, we found that, among several histone deacetylases (HDACs), synaptic activity specifically affects HDAC4 in murine spinal cord dorsal horn neurons. Noxious stimuli that induce long-lasting inflammatory hypersensitivity cause nuclear export and inactivation of HDAC4. The development of inflammation-associated mechanical hypersensitivity, but neither acute nor basal sensitivity, is impaired by the expression of a constitutively nuclear localized HDAC4 mutant. Next generation RNA-sequencing revealed an HDAC4-regulated gene program comprising mediators of sensitization including the organic anion transporter OAT1, known for its renal transport function. Using pharmacological and molecular tools to modulate OAT1 activity or expression, we causally link OAT1 to persistent inflammatory hypersensitivity in mice. Thus, HDAC4 is a key epigenetic regulator that translates nociceptive activity into sensitization by regulating OAT1, which is a potential target for pain-relieving therapies. Chronic pain is sustained by alterations in gene transcription. Here, the authors show that increased expression of Organic Anionic Transporter 1 in the spinal cord is epigenetically controlled and key to hypersensitivity in pathological pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Litke
- Department of Neurobiology, Interdisciplinary Center for Neurosciences (IZN), Heidelberg University, INF 366, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Anna M Hagenston
- Department of Neurobiology, Interdisciplinary Center for Neurosciences (IZN), Heidelberg University, INF 366, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ann-Kristin Kenkel
- Department of Neurobiology, Interdisciplinary Center for Neurosciences (IZN), Heidelberg University, INF 366, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Eszter Paldy
- Institute of Pharmacology, Heidelberg University, INF 366, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Jianning Lu
- Institute of Pharmacology, Heidelberg University, INF 366, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Rohini Kuner
- Institute of Pharmacology, Heidelberg University, INF 366, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Daniela Mauceri
- Department of Neurobiology, Interdisciplinary Center for Neurosciences (IZN), Heidelberg University, INF 366, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
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