The Identification of Opioid Receptors and Peptide Precursors in Human DRG Neurons Expressing Pain-Signaling Molecules Confirms Their Potential as Analgesic Targets.

ABSTRACT: The presence and function of the opioidergic system in sensory dorsal root ganglia (DRG) was demonstrated in various animal models of pain. To endorse recent functional and transcriptional evidence of opioid receptors in human DRG, this study compared morphological and transcriptional evidence in human and rat DRG using immunofluorescence confocal microscopy and mRNA transcript analysis. Specifically, it examined the neuronal expression of mu (MOR), delta (DOR), and kappa (KOR) opioid receptors, opioid peptide precursors (POMC, PENK, and PDYN), and key pain-signaling molecules. The results demonstrate abundant immunoreactivity in human DRG for key pain transduction receptors, including the thermosensitive ion channels TRPV1, TRPV4 and TRPA1, mechanosensitive PIEZO1 and PIEZO2, and the noci

SUBMITTER: Mousa SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12110618 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature