scholarly journals Role of Gangliosides in Peripheral Pain Mechanisms

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 1005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Péter Sántha ◽  
Ildikó Dobos ◽  
Gyöngyi Kis ◽  
Gábor Jancsó

Gangliosides are abundantly occurring sialylated glycosphingolipids serving diverse functions in the nervous system. Membrane-localized gangliosides are important components of lipid microdomains (rafts) which determine the distribution of and the interaction among specific membrane proteins. Different classes of gangliosides are expressed in nociceptive primary sensory neurons involved in the transmission of nerve impulses evoked by noxious mechanical, thermal, and chemical stimuli. Gangliosides, in particular GM1, have been shown to participate in the regulation of the function of ion channels, such as transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1), a molecular integrator of noxious stimuli of distinct nature. Gangliosides may influence nociceptive functions through their association with lipid rafts participating in the organization of functional assemblies of specific nociceptive ion channels with neurotrophins, membrane receptors, and intracellular signaling pathways. Genetic and experimentally induced alterations in the expression and/or metabolism of distinct ganglioside species are involved in pathologies associated with nerve injuries, neuropathic, and inflammatory pain in both men and animals. Genetic and/or pharmacological manipulation of neuronal ganglioside expression, metabolism, and action may offer a novel approach to understanding and management of pain.

2021 ◽  
pp. 204946372110152
Author(s):  
Asha Caroline Cyril ◽  
Reem Kais Jan ◽  
Rajan Radhakrishnan

Background: Prostatitis is the third most common urologic condition affecting more than half the male population at some point in their lives. There are different categories of prostatitis, of which approximately 90% of cases can be classified under the National Institute of Health (NIH) type III category (chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS)) with no causative agents identified. CP/CPPS is associated with several symptoms, of which the most prominent being chronic pain. Despite its high incidence, pain management in patients with CP/CPPS has been poor, possibly due to the lack of understanding of aetiological factors and mechanisms underlying pain development. Methods: An extensive literature search of published articles on the molecular mechanisms of pain in CP/CPPS was conducted using PubMed and Google Scholar search engines ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov and https://scholar.google.com ). The terms used for the search were: prostatitis, pain mechanism in CP/CPPS, prostatitis pain models, acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs), transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPVs), purinergic channels (P2X) in prostatitis pain mechanism and inflammatory mediators in CP/CPPS. The papers were identified based on the title and abstract, and after excluding the articles that did not emphasize the pain mechanism in CP/CPPS. Ninety-five articles (36 review and 59 original research papers) met our criteria and were included in the review. Results: A number of inflammatory mediator molecules and pain channels, including ASICs, transient receptor potential vanilloid channels (TRPVs) and P2Xs have been investigated for their role in prostatitis pain pathology using various animal models. Conclusion: This review summarizes the pain mechanisms in CP/CPPS focusing on the inflammatory mediators, neurotransmitters, pain-transducing ion channels and small animal models developed for studying prostatitis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (17) ◽  
pp. 4285
Author(s):  
Yury A. Trofimov ◽  
Nikolay A. Krylov ◽  
Roman G. Efremov

Solvation effects play a key role in chemical and biological processes. The microscopic properties of water near molecular surfaces are radically different from those in the bulk. Furthermore, the behavior of water in confined volumes of a nanometer scale, including transmembrane pores of ion channels, is especially nontrivial. Knowledge at the molecular level of structural and dynamic parameters of water in such systems is necessary to understand the mechanisms of ion channels functioning. In this work, the results of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of water in the pore and selectivity filter domains of TRPV1 (Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid type 1) membrane channel are considered. These domains represent nanoscale volumes with strongly amphiphilic walls, where physical behavior of water radically differs from that of free hydration (e.g., at protein interfaces) or in the bulk. Inside the pore and filter domains, water reveals a very heterogeneous spatial distribution and unusual dynamics: It forms compact areas localized near polar groups of particular residues. Residence time of water molecules in such areas is at least 1.5 to 3 times larger than that observed for similar groups at the protein surface. Presumably, these water “blobs” play an important role in the functional activity of TRPV1. In particular, they take part in hydration of the hydrophobic TRPV1 pore by localizing up to six waters near the so-called “lower gate” of the channel and reducing by this way the free energy barrier for ion and water transport. Although the channel is formed by four identical protein subunits, which are symmetrically packed in the initial experimental 3D structure, in the course of MD simulations, hydration of the same amino acid residues of individual subunits may differ significantly. This greatly affects the microscopic picture of the distribution of water in the channel and, potentially, the mechanism of its functioning. Therefore, reconstruction of the full picture of TRPV1 channel solvation requires thorough atomistic simulations and analysis. It is important that the naturally occurring porous volumes, like ion-conducting protein domains, reveal much more sophisticated and fine-tuned regulation of solvation than, e.g., artificially designed carbon nanotubes.


2010 ◽  
Vol 112 (3) ◽  
pp. 729-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. M. White ◽  
Mario Cibelli ◽  
Antonio Rei Fidalgo ◽  
Cleoper C. Paule ◽  
Faruq Noormohamed ◽  
...  

Pain originating in inflammation is the most common pathologic pain condition encountered by the anesthesiologist whether in the context of surgery, its aftermath, or in the practice of pain medicine. Inflammatory agents, released as components of the body's response to peripheral tissue damage or disease, are now known to be collectively capable of activating transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1, transient receptor potential vanilloid type 4, transient receptor potential ankyrin type 1, and acid-sensing ion channels, whereas individual agents may activate only certain of these ion channels. These ionotropic receptors serve many physiologic functions-as, indeed, do many of the inflammagens released in the inflammatory process. Here, we introduce the reader to the role of these ionotropic receptors in mediating peripheral pain in response to inflammation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kata Csekő ◽  
Bram Beckers ◽  
Daniel Keszthelyi ◽  
Zsuzsanna Helyes

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) have long been recognized to be accompanied by pain resulting in high morbidity. Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) and ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) ion channels located predominantly on the capsaicin-sensitive sensory neurons play a complex role in hyperalgesia and neurogenic inflammation. This review provides an overview of their expression and role in intestinal inflammation, in particular colitis, that appears to be virtually inconsistent based on the thorough investigations of the last twenty years. However, preclinical results with pharmacological interventions, as well as scarcely available human studies, more convincingly point out the potential therapeutic value of TRPV1 and TRPA1 antagonists in colitis and visceral hypersensitivity providing future therapeutical perspectives through a complex, unique mechanism of action for drug development in IBD.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (14) ◽  
pp. 7591
Author(s):  
Qiaojuan Zhang ◽  
Gwendolyn Henry ◽  
Yong Chen

Itch is a clinical problem that leaves many sufferers insufficiently treated, with over 20 million cases in the United States. This is due to incomplete understanding of its molecular, cellular, and cell-to-cell signaling mechanisms. Transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channels are involved in several sensory modalities including pain, vision, taste, olfaction, hearing, touch, and thermosensation, as well as itch. Relative to the extensive studies on TRPV1 and TRPA1 ion channels in itch modulation, TRPV4 has received relatively little research attention and its mechanisms have remained poorly understood until recently. TRPV4 is expressed in ganglion sensory neurons and a variety of skin cells. Growing evidence in the past few years strongly suggests that TRPV4 in these cells contributes to acute and chronic disease-associated itch. This review focuses on the current experimental evidence involving TRPV4 in itch under pathophysiological conditions and discusses its possible cellular and molecular mechanisms.


2019 ◽  
Vol 245 (3) ◽  
pp. 180-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Genlai Du ◽  
Li Li ◽  
Xinwang Zhang ◽  
Jianbing Liu ◽  
Jianqing Hao ◽  
...  

Chondrocyte mechanotransduction is not well understood, but recently, it has been proposed that mechanically activated ion channels such as transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4), Piezo1, and Piezo2 are of functional importance in chondrocyte mechanotransduction. The aim of this study was to distinguish the potential contributions of TRPV4, Piezo1, and Piezo2 in transducing different intensities of repetitive mechanical stimulus in chondrocytes. To study this, TRPV4-, Piezo1-, or Piezo2-specific siRNAs were transfected into cultured primary chondrocytes to knock down (KD) TRPV4, Piezo1, or Piezo2 expression, designated TRPV4-KD, Piezo1-KD, or Piezo2-KD cells. Then we used Flexcell® Tension System to apply cyclic tensile strains (CTS) of 3% to 18% at 0.5 Hz for 8 h to the knockdown and control siRNA-treated cells. Finally, using a Ca2+ imaging system, stretch-evoked intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+] i) influx in chondrocytes was examined to investigate the roles of TRPV4, Piezo1, and Piezo2 in Ca2+ signaling in response to different intensities of repetitive mechanical stretch stimulation. The characteristics of [Ca2+] i in chondrocytes evoked by stretch stimulation were stretch intensity dependent when comparing unstretched cells. In addition, stretch-evoked [Ca2+] i changes were significantly suppressed in TRPV4-KD, Piezo1-KD, or Piezo2-KD cells compared with control siRNA-treated cells, indicating that any channel essential for Ca2+ signaling induced by stretch stimulation in chondrocytes. Of note, they played different roles in calcium oscillation induced by different intensities of stretch stimulation. More specifically, TRPV4-mediated Ca2+ signaling played a central role in the response of chondrocytes to physiologic levels of strain (3% and 8% of strain), while Piezo2-mediated Ca2+ signaling played a central role in the response of chondrocytes to injurious levels of strain (18% of strain). These results provide a basis for further examination of mechanotransduction in cartilage and raise a possibility of therapeutically targeting Piezo2-mediated mechanotransduction for the treatment of cartilage disease induced by repetitive mechanical forces. Impact statement Chondrocytes in cartilage are constantly subjected to load-induced stimuli and regulate their metabolic activities in order to maintain cartilage homeostasis. Therefore, mechanotransduction is important in chondrocytes and is vital for their role in cartilage function. Our results indicate that chondrocytes might sense and distinguish the different intensities of repetitive mechanical stimulus by using different mechanosensitive ion channels. Specifically, TRPV4 is mainly responsible for sensing physiologic levels of repetitive CTS stimulus, while Piezo2 mainly contributes to chondrocyte sensing noxious levels of repetitive CTS loading. These results provide a basis for further examination of mechanotransduction in cartilage and raise the possibility of therapeutically targeting Piezo2-mediated mechanotransduction for the treatment of OA which is induced by injurious and repetitive mechanical stimulation.


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