Unravelling Spinal Circuits of Pain and Mechanical Allodynia

Neuron. 2015 Aug 19;87(4):673-5. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.08.013.

Abstract

How do spinal circuits mediating tactile sensation and pain get entangled to evoke allodynia, i.e., pain sensation, in response to a normally innocuous stimulus? Recent breakthroughs are now closing this long-standing, critical gap. VGLUT3-expressing neurons and their polysynaptic connectivity to calretinin-expressing neurons are now identified as key determinants of the spinal circuitry underlying mechanical allodynia.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Comment

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Transport Systems, Acidic / biosynthesis*
  • Animals
  • Hyperalgesia / metabolism*
  • Nerve Net / metabolism*
  • Pain / metabolism*
  • Spinal Cord Dorsal Horn / metabolism*
  • Touch*

Substances

  • Amino Acid Transport Systems, Acidic