TRPA1 is an excitatory ion channel expressed by a subpopulation of primary afferent somatosensory neurons that contain substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide. Environmental irritants such as mustard oil, allicin, and acrolein activate TRPA1, causing acute pain, neuropeptide release, and neurogenic inflammation. Genetic studies indicate that TRPA1 is also activated downstream of one or more proalgesic agents that stimulate phospholipase C signaling pathways, thereby implicating this channel in peripheral mechanisms controlling pain hypersensitivity. However, it is not known whether tissue injury also produces endogenous proalgesic factors that activate TRPA1 directly to augment inflammatory pain. Here, we report that recombinant or native TRPA1 channels are activated by 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE), an endogenous ␣,␤-unsaturated aldehyde that is produced when reactive oxygen species peroxidate membrane phospholipids in response to tissue injury, inflammation, and oxidative stress. HNE provokes release of substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide from central (spinal cord) and peripheral (esophagus) nerve endings, resulting in neurogenic plasma protein extravasation in peripheral tissues. Moreover, injection of HNE into the rodent hind paw elicits pain-related behaviors that are inhibited by TRPA1 antagonists and absent in animals lacking functional TRPA1 channels. These findings demonstrate that HNE activates TRPA1 on nociceptive neurons to promote acute pain, neuropeptide release, and neurogenic inflammation. Our results also provide a mechanism-based rationale for developing novel analgesic or anti-inflammatory agents that target HNE production or TRPA1 activation.oxidative stress ͉ sensory signaling ͉ TRP channel ͉ nociception

Cigarette smoke (CS) inhalation causes an early inflammatory response in rodent airways by stimulating capsaicin-sensitive sensory neurons that express transient receptor potential cation channel, subfamily V, member 1 (TRPV1) through an unknown mechanism that does not involve TRPV1. We hypothesized that 2 α,β-unsaturated aldehydes present in CS, crotonaldehyde and acrolein, induce neurogenic inflammation by stimulating TRPA1, an excitatory ion channel coexpressed with TRPV1 on capsaicin-sensitive nociceptors. We found that CS aqueous extract (CSE), crotonaldehyde, and acrolein mobilized Ca 2+ in cultured guinea pig jugular ganglia neurons and promoted contraction of isolated guinea pig bronchi. These responses were abolished by a TRPA1-selective antagonist and by the aldehyde scavenger glutathione but not by the TRPV1 antagonist capsazepine or by ROS scavengers. Treatment with CSE or aldehydes increased Ca 2+ influx in TRPA1-transfected cells, but not in control HEK293 cells, and promoted neuropeptide release from isolated guinea pig airway tissue. Furthermore, the effect of CSE and aldehydes on Ca 2+ influx in dorsal root ganglion neurons was abolished in TRPA1-deficient mice. These data identify α,β-unsaturated aldehydes as the main causative agents in CS that via TRPA1 stimulation mediate airway neurogenic inflammation and suggest a role for TRPA1 in the pathogenesis of CS-induced diseases.

Exacerbated sensitivity to mechanical stimuli that are normally innocuous or mildly painful (mechanical allodynia and hyperalgesia) occurs during inflammation and underlies painful diseases. Proteases that are generated during inflammation and disease cleave protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR 2 ) on afferent nerves to cause mechanical hyperalgesia in the skin and intestine by unknown mechanisms. We hypothesized that PAR 2 -mediated mechanical hyperalgesia requires sensitization of the ion channel transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4). The ability to detect mechanical stimuli allows organisms to respond to their environment. High-intensity mechanical stimuli can damage tissue and provoke pain, leading to avoidance behaviours. Inflammatory mediators enhance sensitivity to mechanical stimuli that are normally innocuous or mildly painful (mechanical allodynia or hyperalgesia, respectively), resulting in pain associated with disorders such as arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome. However, the ion channels that transduce mechanical stimuli are

Patients with cholestatic disease exhibit pruritus and analgesia, but the mechanisms underlying these symptoms are unknown. We report that bile acids, which are elevated in the circulation and tissues during cholestasis, cause itch and analgesia by activating the GPCR TGR5. TGR5 was detected in peptidergic neurons of mouse dorsal root ganglia and spinal cord that transmit itch and pain, and in dermal macrophages that contain opioids. Bile acids and a TGR5-selective agonist induced hyperexcitability of dorsal root ganglia neurons and stimulated the release of the itch and analgesia transmitters gastrin-releasing peptide and leucineenkephalin. Intradermal injection of bile acids and a TGR5-selective agonist stimulated scratching behavior by gastrin-releasing peptide-and opioid-dependent mechanisms in mice. Scratching was attenuated in Tgr5-KO mice but exacerbated in Tgr5-Tg mice (overexpressing mouse TGR5), which exhibited spontaneous pruritus. Intraplantar and intrathecal injection of bile acids caused analgesia to mechanical stimulation of the paw by an opioid-dependent mechanism. Both peripheral and central mechanisms of analgesia were absent from Tgr5-KO mice. Thus, bile acids activate TGR5 on sensory nerves, stimulating the release of neuropeptides in the spinal cord that transmit itch and analgesia. These mechanisms could contribute to pruritus and painless jaundice that occur during cholestatic liver diseases.

Platinum-based anticancer drugs cause neurotoxicity. In particular, oxaliplatin produces early-developing, painful, and cold-exacerbated paresthesias. However, the mechanism underlying these bothersome and dose-limiting adverse effects is unknown. We hypothesized that the transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1), a cation channel activated by oxidative stress and cold temperature, contributes to mechanical and cold hypersensitivity caused by oxaliplatin and cisplatin. Oxaliplatin and cisplatin evoked glutathione-sensitive relaxation, mediated by TRPA1 stimulation and the release of calcitonin gene-related peptide from sensory nerve terminals in isolated guinea pig pulmonary arteries. No calcium response was observed in cultured mouse dorsal root ganglion neurons or in naïve Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells exposed to oxaliplatin or cisplatin. However, oxaliplatin, and with lower potency, cisplatin, evoked a glutathione-sensitive calcium response in CHO cells expressing mouse TRPA1. One single administration of oxaliplatin produced mechanical and cold hyperalgesia in rats, an effect selectively abated by the TRPA1 antagonist HC-030031. Oxaliplatin administration caused mechanical and cold allodynia in mice. Both responses were absent in TRPA1-deficient mice. Administration of cisplatin evoked mechanical allodynia, an effect that was reduced in TRPA1-deficient mice. TRPA1 is therefore required for oxaliplatin-evoked mechanical and cold hypersensitivity, and contributes to cisplatin-evoked mechanical allodynia. Channel activation is most likely caused by glutathione-sensitive molecules, including reactive oxygen species and their byproducts, which are generated after tissue exposure to platinum-based drugs from cells surrounding nociceptive nerve terminals.