Evidence for a role of connexin 43 in trigeminal pain using RNA interference in vivo.

ABSTRACT: The importance of glial cells in the generation and maintenance of neuropathic pain is becoming widely accepted. We examined the role of glial-specific gap junctions in nociception in the rat trigeminal ganglion in nerve-injured and -uninjured states. The connexin 43 (Cx43) gap-junction subunit was found to be confined to the satellite glial cells (SGCs) that tightly envelop primary sensory neurons in the trigeminal ganglion and we therefore used Cx43 RNA interference (RNAi) to alter gap-junction function in SGCs. Using behavioral evaluation, together with immunocytochemical and Western blot monitoring, we show that Cx43 increased in the trigeminal ganglion in rats with a chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the infraorbital nerve. Reducing Cx43 expression using RNAi in CCI rats reduced pa

SUBMITTER: Ohara PT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2604845 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature