Dendritic Spine Remodeling Following Early and Late Rac1 Inhibition After Spinal Cord Injury: Evidence for a Pain Biomarker

Overview

Journal J Neurophysiol

Publisher American Physiological Society

Specialties Neurology
Physiology

Date 2016 Mar 4

PMID 26936986

Citations 18

Authors

Peng Zhao

Myriam Hill

Shujun Liu

Lubin Chen

Lakshmi Bangalore

Stephen G Waxman

Andrew M Tan

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Neuropathic pain is a significant complication following spinal cord injury (SCI) with few effective treatments. Drug development for neuropathic pain often fails because preclinical studies do not always translate well to clinical conditions. Identification of biological characteristics predictive of disease state or drug responsiveness could facilitate more effective clinical translation. Emerging evidence indicates a strong correlation between dendritic spine dysgenesis and neuropathic pain. Because dendritic spines are located on dorsal horn neurons within the spinal cord nociceptive system, dendritic spine remodeling provides a unique opportunity to understand sensory dysfunction after SCI. In this study, we provide support for the postulate that dendritic spine profiles can serve as biomarkers for neuropathic pain. We show that dendritic spine profiles after SCI change to a dysgenic state that is characteristic of neuropathic pain in a Rac1-dependent manner. Suppression of the dysgenic state through inhibition of Rac1 activity is accompanied by attenuation of neuropathic pain. Both dendritic spine dysgenesis and neuropathic pain return when inhibition of Rac1 activity is lifted. These findings suggest the utility of dendritic spines as structural biomarkers for neuropathic pain.

Citing Articles

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