A new tr(i)p to sense pain: TRPA1 channel as a target for novel analgesics

Abstract

Pain sensation occurs at multiple levels of the nervous system, involving a myriad of molecules and signaling pathways that contribute to the detection of noxious stimuli, and the modulation, initiation and propagation of electrical activity in nociceptors, a subset of primary sensory neurons. The fact that several types of ion channels or their splice variants are highly expressed in nociceptors and are critical for pain transduction has prompted scientists to examine their physiological roles in order to better understand the neuromolecular mechanisms of the pain pathway. Recent reports have demonstrated that TRPA1, a member of the mammalian transient receptor potential cation channel family, acts as a key chemical nocisensor in response to diverse chemical stimuli. The TRPA1 channel represents a new target for novel analgesics to specifically eliminate pain sensation of various stimuli.

Keywords::

• analgesic
• Ca²⁺ signaling
• formalin test
• HC-030031
• inflammation
• nociceptor
• pain
• sensory neuron
• TRPA1 agonist
• TRP channel

Acknowledgement

I thank Yanhong Zhang for critically reading this manuscript and three anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This work was supported, in part, by a grant from the American Heart Association (0625403U). The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.