title: Organizing pains.
abstract: Chronic pain is sustained by central neuronal sensitization, with many similar characteristics irrespective of the type of injury incurred. Nevertheless, pain arising from nerve injury (neuropathic pain) is resistant to centrally acting analgesics, whereas inflammatory pain responds well. New research indicates that the role of spinal NMDA receptors in chronic pain depends on adaptor proteins of the membrane-associated guanylate kinase (MAGUK) family and raises the possibility that complexes of different composition might contribute differentially to different pain states.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Neuroscience Research, Division of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The University of Edinburgh, Summerhall, Edinburgh EH9 1QH, UK.
authors.forename: Emer M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Garry
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Fleetwood-Walker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D051528:Guanylate Kinases; D006801:Humans; D009703:Nucleoside-Phosphate Kinase / Q000502:physiology*; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000502:physiology; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D009703:Nucleoside-Phosphate Kinase; D051528:Guanylate Kinases