title: Pirt contributes to uterine contraction-induced pain in mice.
abstract: Uterine contraction-induced pain (UCP) represents a common and severe form of visceral pain. Nerve fibers that innervate uterine tissue express the transient receptor potential vanilloid channel 1 (TRPV1), which has been shown to be involved in the perception of UCP. The phosphoinositide-interacting regulator of TRP (Pirt) may act as a regulatory subunit of TRPV1. The intraperitoneal injection of oxytocin into female mice after a 6-day priming treatment with estradiol benzoate induces writhing responses, which reflect the presence of UCP. Here, we first compared writhing response between Pirt (+/+) and Pirt (-/-) mice. Second, we examined the innervation of Pirt-expressing nerves in the uterus of Pirt (-/-) mice by immunofluorescence and two-photon microscopy. Third, we identified the soma of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons that innerve the uterus using retrograde tracing and further characterized the neurochemical properties of these DRG neurons. Finally, we compared the calcium response of capsaicin between DRG neurons from Pirt (+/+) and Pirt (-/-) mice. We found that the writhing responses were less intensive in Pirt (-/-) mice than in Pirt (+/+) mice. We also observed Pirt-expressing nerve fibers in the myometrium of the uterus, and that retrograde-labeled cells were small-diameter, unmyelinated, and Pirt-positive DRG neurons. Additionally, we found that the number of capsaicin-responding neurons and the magnitude of evoked calcium response were markedly reduced in DRG neurons from Pirt (-/-) mice. Taken together, we speculate that Pirt plays an important role in mice uterine contraction-induced pain.
authors.affiliation: College of Basic Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Rd, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China. bychangming@163.com.
authors.forename: Changming
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Basic Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Rd, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China. zhongliwangtcm@126.com.
authors.forename: Zhongli
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Basic Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Rd, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China. yangyan3727@163.com.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: College of Basic Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Rd, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China. zhuchuan2005@126.com.
authors.forename: Chan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: College of Basic Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Rd, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China. w5gy1@126.com.
authors.forename: Guanyi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: College of Basic Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Rd, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China. yuguang928@126.com.
authors.forename: Guang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: College of Basic Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Rd, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China. jiantunyu1986@163.com.
authors.forename: Tunyu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jian
authors.affiliation: College of Basic Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Rd, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China. yniuniu111@163.com.
authors.forename: Niuniu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: College of Basic Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Rd, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China. xlszm1020@126.com.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: College of Basic Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Rd, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China. tangmin0912@163.com.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: College of Basic Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Rd, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China. 807844536@qq.com.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210046, Jiangsu, China. lanlei1978@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lan
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, University of Washington, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA. liuqi@anest.wustl.edu.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA. yguan1@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Center for Sensory Biology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA. xdong2@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: Xinzhong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: College of Basic Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Rd, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China. dja@njutcm.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jinao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: College of Basic Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Rd, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China. zongxiangtang@njutcm.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zongxiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002211:Capsaicin / Q000494:pharmacology; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D010146:Pain / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014590:Uterine Contraction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D014599:Uterus / Q000294:innervation / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C529003:Pirt protein, mouse; D002211:Capsaicin