Pain perception in mice is maintained for several days by augmented activity of a particular enzyme in a brain area associated with chronic pain. Blocking the enzyme, PKMζ, with a peptide inhibitor alleviates the pain.
Bong-Kiun Kaang at Seoul National University, Min Zhuo at the University of Toronto in Canada and their colleagues show that in the days following a nerve injury, mice had higher levels of PKMζ in a brain region known as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Injecting the PKMζ inhibitor into the ACC led to a drop in synaptic activity, or neuronal communication, in that region, as well as a decrease in pain responses.
The authors suggest that PKMζ mediates chronic pain by boosting synaptic transmission in the ACC.
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Neuroscience: Enzyme helps pain persist. Nature 468, 735 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/468735a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/468735a