ATP is a known mediator of inflammatory and neuropathic pain. However, the mechanisms by which specific purinergic receptors contribute to chronic pain states are still poorly characterized. Here, we demonstrate that in response to peripheral nerve injury, P2X 4 receptors (P2X 4 R) are expressed de novo by activated microglia in the spinal cord. Using in vitro and in vivo models, we provide direct evidence that P2X 4 R stimulation leads to the release of BDNF from activated microglia and, most likely phosphorylation of the NR1 subunit of NMDA receptors in dorsal horn neurons of the spinal cord. Consistent with these findings, P2X4-deficient mice lack mechanical hyperalgesia induced by peripheral nerve injury and display impaired BDNF signaling in the spinal cord. Furthermore, ATP stimulation is unable to stimulate BDNF release from P2X 4 -deficient mice microglia in primary cultures. These results indicate that P2X 4 R contribute to chronic pain through a central inflammatory pathway. P2X 4 R might thus represent a potential therapeutic target to limit microglia-mediated inflammatory responses associated with brain injury and neurodegenerative disorders.

We used a mouse with deletion of exons 4, 5, and 6 of the SCN11A (sodium channel, voltage-gated, type XI, ␣) gene that encodes the voltage-gated sodium channel Na v 1.9 to assess its contribution to pain. Na v 1.9 is present in nociceptor sensory neurons that express TRPV1, bradykinin B 2 , and purinergic P2X 3 receptors. In Na v 1.9 ؊/؊ mice, the non-inactivating persistent tetrodotoxin-resistant sodium TTXr-Per current is absent, whereas TTXr-Slow is unchanged. TTXs currents are unaffected by the mutation of Na v 1.9. Pain hypersensitivity elicited by intraplantar administration of prostaglandin E 2 , bradykinin, interleukin-1␤, capsaicin, and P2X 3 and P2Y receptor agonists, but not NGF, is either reduced or absent in Na v 1.9 ؊/؊ mice, whereas basal thermal and mechanical pain sensitivity is unchanged. Thermal, but not mechanical, hypersensitivity produced by peripheral inflammation (intraplanatar complete Freund's adjuvant) is substantially diminished in the null allele mutant mice, whereas hypersensitivity in two neuropathic pain models is unchanged in the Na v 1.9 ؊/؊ mice. Na v 1.9 is, we conclude, an effector of the hypersensitivity produced by multiple inflammatory mediators on nociceptor peripheral terminals and therefore plays a key role in mediating peripheral sensitization.

It has been postulated that the G protein-coupled receptor, GPR55, is a third cannabinoid receptor. Given that the ligands at the CB(1) and CB(2) receptors are effective analgesic and anti-inflammatory agents, the role of GPR55 in hyperalgesia associated with inflammatory and neuropathic pain has been investigated. As there are no well-validated GPR55 tool compounds, a GPR55 knockout (GPR55(-/-)) mouse line was generated and fully backcrossed onto the C57BL/6 strain. General phenotypic analysis of GPR55(-/-) mice revealed no obvious primary differences, compared with wild-type (GPR55(+/+)) littermates. GPR55(-/-) mice were then tested in the models of adjuvant-induced inflammation and partial nerve ligation. Following intraplantar administration of Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA), inflammatory mechanical hyperalgesia was completely absent in GPR55(-/-) mice up to 14 days post-injection. Cytokine profiling experiments showed that at 14 days post-FCA injection there were increased levels of IL-4, IL-10, IFN gamma and GM-CSF in paws from the FCA-injected GPR55(-/-) mice when compared with the FCA-injected GPR55(+/+) mice. This suggests that GPR55 signalling can influence the regulation of certain cytokines and this may contribute to the lack of inflammatory mechanical hyperalgesia in the GPR55(-/-) mice. In the model of neuropathic hypersensitivity, GPR55(-/-) mice also failed to develop mechanical hyperalgesia up to 28 days post-ligation. These data clearly suggest that the manipulation of GPR55 may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of both inflammatory and neuropathic pain.

Background potassium channels control the resting membrane potential of neurones and regulate their excitability. Two-pore-domain potassium (2-PK) channels have been shown to underlie a number of such neuronal background currents. Currents through human TASK-1, TASK-2 and TASK-3 channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes were inhibited by extracellular acidification. For TASK-3, mutation of histidine 98 to aspartate or alanine considerably reduced this effect of pH. Zinc was found to be a selective blocker of TASK-3 with virtually no effect on TASK-1 or TASK-2. Zinc had an IC 50 of 19.8 µM for TASK-3, at +80 mV, with little voltage dependence associated with this inhibition. TASK-3 H98A had a much reduced sensitivity to zinc suggesting this site is important for zinc block. Surprisingly, TASK-1 also has histidine in position 98 but is insensitive to zinc block. TASK-3 and TASK-1 differ at position 70 with glutamate for TASK-3 and lysine for TASK-1. TASK-3 E70K also had a much reduced sensitivity to zinc while the corresponding reverse mutation in TASK-1, K70E, induced zinc sensitivity. A TASK-3-TASK-1 concatamer channel was comparatively zinc insensitive. For TASK-3, it is concluded that positions E70 and H98 are both critical for zinc block. The native cerebellar granule neurone (CGN) leak current, IK SO , is sensitive to block by zinc, with current reduced to 0.58 of control values in the presence of 100 µM zinc. This suggests that TASK-3 channels underlie a major component of IK SO . It has recently been suggested that zinc is released from inhibitory synapses onto CGNs. Therefore it is possible that inhibition of IK SO in cerebellar granule cells by synaptically released zinc may have important physiological consequences.

Fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs) have been implicated in many developmental and regenerative events, including axial organisation, mesodermal patterning, keratinocyte organisation and brain development. The consensus view that this reflects a role for one or other of the nine known members of the fibroblast growth factor family in these processes has recently been challenged by the suggestion that FGFRs might be directly activated by a much wider range of ligands, including heparan sulphate proteoglycans and neural cell adhesion molecules. In addition, two novel soluble ligands for FGFRs have been identified using yeast two-hybrid technology. Overall, the new findings suggest that in terms of ligand binding the FGFRs might be an even more promiscuous family of receptor tyrosine kinases than was already appreciated.