title: Sodium channels in primary sensory neurons: relationship to pain states.
abstract: Electrophysiological studies of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons, and the results of PCR, Northern blot and in situ hybridization analyses have demonstrated the molecular diversity of Na+ channels that operate in sensory neurons. Several subtypes of alpha-subunit have been detected in DRG neurons and transcripts encoding all three beta-subunits are also present. Interestingly, one alpha subunit, Na(v)1.8, is selectively expressed in C-fibre and Adelta fibre associated sensory neurons that are predominantly involved in damage sensing. Another channel, Na(v).3, is selectively up regulated in a variety of models of neuropathic pain. In this review we focus on Na+ channels that are selectively expressed in DRG neurons as potential analgesic drug targets. In the absence of subtype specific inhibitors, the production of null mutant mice provides useful information on the specialized functions of particular Na+ channels. A refinement of this approach is to delete Na+ channel genes flanked by lox-P sites in the sensory ganglia of adult animals, using viruses to deliver the bacteriophage Cre recombinase enzyme.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University College London, UK.
authors.forename: John N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: Armen N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Akopian
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Yanning
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Fleur
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Geoghegan
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nassar
authors.forename: Misbah
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Malik-Hall
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okuse
authors.forename: Louisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Poon
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ravenall
authors.forename: Madhu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sukumaran
authors.forename: Veronika
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Souslova
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000502:physiology*; D010146:Pain / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D013779:Tetrodotoxin / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D015222:Sodium Channels; D013779:Tetrodotoxin