TY  - JOUR
A1  - Möller, Moritz
A1  - Möser, Christine
A1  - Weiß, Ulrike
A1  - Niederberger, Ellen
T1  - The Role of AlphαSynuclein in Mouse Models of Acute, Inflammatory and Neuropathic Pain
T2  - Cells
N2  - (1) AlphαSynuclein (αSyn) is a synaptic protein which is expressed in the nervous system and has been linked to neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Parkinson’s disease (PD). Symptoms of PD are mainly due to overexpression and aggregation of αSyn and include pain. However, the interconnection of αSyn and pain has not been clarified so far. (2) We investigated the potential effects of a αSyn knock-out on the nociceptive behaviour in mouse models of acute, inflammatory and neuropathic pain. Furthermore, we assessed the impact of αSyn deletion on pain-related cellular and molecular mechanisms in the spinal cord in these models. (3) Our results showed a reduction of acute cold nociception in αSyn knock-out mice while responses to acute heat and mechanical noxious stimulation were similar in wild type and knock-out mice. Inflammatory nociception was not affected by αSyn knock-out which is also mirrored by unaltered inflammatory gene expression. In contrast, in the SNI model of neuropathic pain, αSyn knock-out mice showed decreased mechanical allodynia as compared to wild type mice. This effect was associated with reduced proinflammatory mechanisms and suppressed activation of MAP kinase signalling in the spinal cord while endogenous antinociceptive mechanisms are not inhibited. (4) Our data indicate that αSyn plays a role in neuropathy and its inhibition might be useful to ameliorate pain symptoms after nerve injury.
KW  - alphaSynuclein
KW  - nociception
KW  - inflammation
KW  - neuropathic pain
KW  - MAP kinase
Y1  - 2022
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/71459
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-714592
SN  - 2073-4409
N1  - The following are available online at https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/cells11121967/s1, Figure S1: Expression, regulation and functions of aSyn in the DRGs; Figure S2: Zymosan induced paw inflammation; Figure S3: Mechanical and cold allodynia in the SNI model; Figure S4: Expression of delta-opioid receptor (DOR) and cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1 R) genes in the spinal cord of mice in the SNI model; Figure S5: Immunofluorescence background control staining.
VL  - 11.2022
IS  - 12, art. 1967
SP  - 1
EP  - 17
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel
ER  -