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- Title
Impaired neuropathic pain and preserved acute pain in rats overexpressing voltage-gated potassium channel subunit Kv1.2 in primary afferent neurons.
- Authors
Fan, Longchang; Guan, Xiaowei; Wei Wang; Jian-Yuan Zhao; Hongkang Zhang; Tiwari, Vinod; Hoffman, Paul N.; Min Li; Yuan-Xiang Tao
- Abstract
Voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channels are critical in controlling neuronal excitability and are involved in the induction of neuropathic pain. Therefore, Kv channels might be potential targets for prevention and/or treatment of this disorder. We reported here that a majority of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons were positive for Kv channel alpha subunit Kv1.2. Most of them were large and medium, although there was a variety of sizes. Peripheral nerve injury caused by lumbar (L)5 spinal nerve ligation (SNL) produced a time-dependent reduction in the number of Kv1.2-positive neurons in the ipsilateral L5 DRG, but not in the contralateral L5 DRG. Such reduction was also observed in the ipsilateral L5 DRG on day 7 after sciatic nerve axotomy. Rescuing nerve injury-induced reduction of Kv1.2 in the injured L5 DRG attenuated the development and maintenance of SNL-induced pain hypersensitivity without affecting acute pain and locomotor function. This effect might be attributed to the prevention of SNL-induced upregulation of endogenous Kv1.2 antisense RNA, in addition to the increase in Kv1.2 protein expression, in the injured DRG. Our findings suggest that Kv1.2 may be a novel potential target for preventing and/or treating neuropathic pain.
- Subjects
EXCITATION (Physiology); PAIN measurement; LABORATORY rats; PERIPHERAL nerve injuries; ALLERGIES
- Publication
Molecular Pain, 2014, Vol 10, Issue 1, p2
- ISSN
1744-8069
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1186/1744-8069-10-8