[Voltage-dependent calcium channels at the heart of pain perception].
Voltage-dependent calcium channels represent a major pathway of calcium entry into neurons, where they participate actively to cell excitability and to the molecular processes of synaptic transmission. For that reason, they have been the direct or indirect pharmacological targets of analgesics and this long before their implication in the physiology of nociception had been demonstrated. These last years, the still more refined molecular characterization of these channels and their associated regulatory subunits and the demonstration of their implication in nociceptive processes indicates that these structures are prime pharmacological targets for the management of pain. Herein, we detail the recent breakthroughs on calcium channel structure, function and pharmacology, review the implication of calcium channels in the transmission of nociception, and evaluate their importance as targets for the treatment of pain perception. The search for specific inhibitors of voltage-dependent calcium channels appears as a prelude to the development of new promising analgesic molecules.
Weiss
Norbert
N
Laboratoire Canaux Calciques, Fonctions et Pathologies, Inserm U607, DRDC, Bâtiment C3, 17, rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble Cedex 09, France.
De Waard
Michel
M
D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology; D000700:Analgesics / Q000145:classification / Q000494:pharmacology; D002118:Calcium / Q000502:physiology; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008032:Limbic System / Q000503:physiopathology; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000502:physiology; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000502:physiology; D036421:Nerve Fibers, Unmyelinated / Q000502:physiology; D009619:Nociceptors / Q000502:physiology; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D021122:Protein Subunits; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology; D013133:Spinothalamic Tracts / Q000503:physiopathology
D000700:Analgesics; D015220:Calcium Channels; D021122:Protein Subunits; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; D002118:Calcium