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PAIN

Harnessing bacterial toxins to treat pain

Nature Neuroscience volume 25, pages 132–134 (2022)Cite this article

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Yang et al. demonstrate that sensory neurons are enriched for the anthrax toxin receptor-2. Edema toxin, which acts via this receptor, induces analgesia in mice and can also be engineered to deliver large cargoes such as botulinum toxin in order to selectively silence sensory neurons.

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Fig. 1: Anthrax receptors expressed in nociceptors selectively block pain.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neural Injury Group, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Jimena Perez-Sanchez & David L. Bennett

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  1. Jimena Perez-Sanchez
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  2. David L. Bennett
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Correspondence to David L. Bennett.

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Competing interests

D.L.B. has acted as a consultant on behalf of Oxford Innovation for Amgen, Bristows, LatigoBio, GSK, Ionis, Lilly, Olipass, Orion, Regeneron and Theranexus over the past two years. He has received research funding from Lilly and an industrial partnership grant from the BBSRC and AstraZeneca. J.P.-S. declares no competing interests.

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Perez-Sanchez, J., Bennett, D.L. Harnessing bacterial toxins to treat pain. Nat Neurosci 25, 132–134 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-021-00981-8

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