BACKGROUND Suo Quan Wan (SQW) is an effective traditional Chinese prescription on treated lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), and has been proved have modulation effect on the expression of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) in accordance with the recovery of bladder function of overactive bladder rat. This study further investigated the mechanism of SQW modulated TRPV1 signaling...

BACKGROUND Leptin, an adipocytokine produced mainly by white adipose tissue, has a broad role in the regulation of neuronal functions. Accumulating evidence has revealed that leptin plays an important role in influencing neuropathic pain, shown recently by the finding that chronic administration of leptin induced thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia in naïve rats. Chronic constriction ...

Two new P2X receptor cDNAs (P2X5 and P2X6) were isolated and expressed. All six proteins are 36-48 percent identical and seem to have two transmembrane segments with a large extracellular loop. Functionally, P2X5 and P2X6 receptors most resemble P2X2 and P2X4; they desensitize only slowly and do not respond to alpha beta methylene-ATP. P2X6 receptors, like P2X4, receptors, are not blocked by th...

The vagus nerve is composed primarily of nonmyelinated sensory neurons whose cell bodies are located in the nodose ganglion (NG). The vagus has widespread projections that supply most visceral organs, including the bladder. Because of its nonspinal route, the vagus nerve itself is not directly damaged from spinal cord injury (SCI). Because most viscera, including bladder, are dually innervated ...

Extracellular nucleotides interact with purinergic receptors, which regulate ion transport in a variety of epithelia. With the use of two different human epithelial carcinoma cell lines (HCT8 and Caco-2), we have shown by RT-PCR that the cells express mRNA for P2X1, P2X3, P2X4, P2X5, P2X6, P2X7, P2Y1, P2Y2, P2Y4, P2Y6, P2Y11, and P2Y12 receptors. Protein expression for P2Y1 and P2Y2 receptors w...

To elucidate the functional link between Ca(2+)/calmodulin protein kinase II (CaMKII) and P2X receptor activation, we studied the effects of electrical stimulation, such as occurs in injurious conditions, on P2X receptor-mediated ATP responses in primary sensory dorsal root ganglion neurons. We found that endogenously active CaMKII up-regulates basal P2X3 receptor activity in dorsal root gangli...

Oncostatin M (OSM) is a member of the interleukin-6 family of cytokines, and we have reported previously that the murine OSM receptor beta subunit (OSMR) was expressed in some neurons in the adult trigeminal and dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) and in the perineonatal hypoglossal nucleus. In the present study, we investigated the development of OSMR-positive neurons of DRGs in OSM-deficient mice. In ...