Structural biology: How opioid drugs bind to receptors

Marta Filizola & Lakshmi A. Devi

doi:10.1038/485314a

Nature 485, 314-317 (2012)

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Blockade of PDGFR-β activation eliminates morphine analgesic tolerance

Yan Wang, Katherine Barker, Shanping Shi, Miguel Diaz, Bing Mo & Howard B. Gutstein

doi:10.1038/nm.2633

Nature Medicine 18, 385-387 (2012)

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Epigenetic suppression of GAD65 expression mediates persistent pain

Zhi Zhang, You-Qing Cai, Fang Zou, Bihua Bie & Zhizhong Z. Pan

doi:10.1038/nm.2442

Nature Medicine 17, 1448-1455 (2011)

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Corticostriatal functional connectivity predicts transition to chronic back pain

Marwan N. Baliki, Bogdan Petre, Souraya Torbey, Kristina M. Herrmann, Lejian Huang, Thomas J. Schnitzer, Howard L. Fields & A. Vania Apkarian

doi:10.1038/nn.3153

Nature Neuroscience 15, 1117-1119 (2012)

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Can neuroimaging studies identify pain endophenotypes in humans?

Irene Tracey

doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2011.4

Nature Reviews Neurology 7, 173-181 (2011)

Much is still to be learned regarding how nociceptive stimuli, genes and various other factors influence the generation and maintenance of pain. In this article, Irene Tracey examines possible neuroimaging endophenotypes of pain that could act as measurable markers of this condition. Such markers would assist both the management of and research into acute and chronic pain.

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The Na_V1.7 sodium channel: from molecule to man

Sulayman D. Dib-Hajj, Yang Yang, Joel A. Black & Stephen G. Waxman

doi:10.1038/nrn3404

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 14, 49-62 (2013)

Mutations in SCN9A, which encodes the voltage-gated sodium channel Na_V1.7, can lead to severe neuropathic pain in humans. In this Review, Waxman and colleagues examine the mechanistic basis of Na_V1.7-linked pain and explore strategies for targeting this channel in pain therapy.

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Sex differences in pain and pain inhibition: multiple explanations of a controversial phenomenon

Jeffrey S. Mogil

doi:10.1038/nrn3360

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 13, 859-866 (2012)

Chronic pain is more prevalent in women than in men. In this Perspective, Jeffrey Mogil argues that this sex bias in clinical pain is due to a sex difference in pain sensitivity and discusses various underlying mechanisms that might account for this difference.

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