Formation of perineuronal nets within a thalamocortical circuit shapes mechanical and thermal pain thresholds in mice with neuropathic pain.

ABSTRACT:

Abstract

We moved from the hypothesis that perineuronal nets (PNNs), which are condensed structures of the extracellular matrix surrounding GABAergic interneurons in the forebrain, contribute to mechanisms of maladaptive neuronal plasticity underlying chronic pain. Here, we found that the density of PNNs labelled with the lectin Wisteria Floribunda Agglutinin (WFA) increased in the contralateral somatosensory cortex (SSC), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), reticular thalamic nucleus (RTN), and insular cortex of mice developing neuropathic pain in response to unilateral chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve. These regions are involved in neuronal circuits underlying perception, sufferance, embodiment, and top-down control of pain. At least in the SSC and mPFC, the increase

SUBMITTER: Mascio G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12004981 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature