title: How anchoring proteins shape pain.
abstract: Cellular responsiveness to external stimuli can be altered by extracellular mediators which activate membrane receptors, in turn signalling to the intracellular space via calcium, cyclic nucleotides, membrane lipids or enzyme activity. These signalling events trigger a cascade leading to an effector which can be a channel, an enzyme or a transcription factor. The effectiveness of these intracellular events is enhanced when they are maintained in close proximity by anchoring proteins, which assemble complexes of signalling molecules such as kinases together with their targets, and in this way enhance both the speed and the precision of intracellular signalling. The A kinase anchoring protein (AKAP) family are adaptor proteins originally named for their ability to associate Protein Kinase A and its targets, but several other enzymes bound by AKAPs have now been found and a wide variety of target structures has been described. This review provides an overview of anchoring proteins involved in pain signalling. The key anchoring proteins and their ion channel targets in primary sensory neurons responding to painful stimuli (nociceptors) are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physiology and Pathophysiology, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany. Electronic address: michael.fischer@physiologie1.med.uni-erlangen.de.
authors.forename: Michael J M
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.affiliation: Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Research, Hodgkin Building, King's College London, London SE1 1UH, UK.
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: McNaughton
mesh_terms: D054758:A Kinase Anchor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D010146:Pain / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D054758:A Kinase Anchor Proteins
keywords: AKAP; Accessory protein; Pain; Scaffolding protein; Sensitisation