ZBTB20 in Nociceptive Neurons of the Trigeminal Ganglia Regulates Pruritus

Conditional gene deletion in primary nociceptive neurons of trigeminal ganglia and dorsal root ganglia.

The use of Cre-loxP technology for conditional mutagenesis in pain pathways had been restricted by the unavailability of mice expressing Cre recombinase selectively in functionally distinct components of the nociceptive system. Here we describe the generation of transgenic mouse lines which express Cre recombinase selectively in sensory ganglia using promoter elements of the Na(v)1.8 gene (Scn1...

Thermal nociceptive properties of trigeminal afferent neurons in rats

BACKGROUND Although nociceptive afferents innervating the body have been heavily studied form many years, much less attention has been paid to trigeminal afferent biology. In particular, very little is known concerning trigeminal nociceptor responses to heat, and almost nothing in the rat. This study uses a highly controlled and reproducible diode laser stimulator to investigate the activation ...

Cholinergic Nociceptive Mechanisms in Rat Meninges and Trigeminal Ganglia: Potential Implications for Migraine Pain

BACKGROUND Parasympathetic innervation of meninges and ability of carbachol, acetylcholine (ACh) receptor (AChR) agonist, to induce headaches suggests contribution of cholinergic mechanisms to primary headaches. However, neurochemical mechanisms of cholinergic regulation of peripheral nociception in meninges, origin place for headache, are almost unknown. METHODS Using electrophysiology, calc...

Commentary: Cholinergic Nociceptive Mechanisms in Rat Meninges and Trigeminal Ganglia: Potential Implications for Migraine Pain

Dorsal horn NK1-expressing neurons control windup of downstream trigeminal nociceptive neurons.

Windup is a progressive, frequency-dependent increase in the excitability of trigeminal and spinal dorsal horn wide dynamic range (WDR) nociceptive neurons to repetitive stimulation of primary afferent nociceptive C-fibers. Superficial dorsal horn neurokinin 1 receptor (NK1R)-expressing neurons were recently shown to regulate sensitization of WDR nociceptive neurons through activation of a defi...