Neuropathic pain is a refractory disease that involves protein synthesis in pathways. The mechanistic target of the target of rapamycin (mTOR) is the main regulator of protein translation, but the mechanism of its role in neuropathic pain remains unclear.
In a recent study by Zhejiang University published in JCI INSIGHT, researchers from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine jointly discovered a new mechanism of neuropathic pain.
The researchers knocked down the mTOR in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons to effectively relieve hyperalgesia, pain hypersensitivity, and spontaneous pain in mice. Further DRG tissue sequencing and experimental analysis found that mTOR participates in the expression of hypothalamic neuropeptide Y (NPY) in mechanoceptive neurons through phosphorylation signal transduction and transcriptional activator 3, and the expressed NPY interacts with Y2 receptor on small cell nociceptive neurons, making excitatory neurons and promoting the occurrence of pain.
This study revealed the key role and mechanism of mTOR induced by DRG neurons in the occurrence of neuropathic pain, and provided new ideas for the clinical treatment of neuropathic pain.
