Toyoda Hiroki, Zhao Ming-Gao, Zhuo Min
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Centre for the Study of Pain, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Mol Pain. 2009 Jan 27;5:4. doi: 10.1186/1744-8069-5-4.
The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is a forebrain structure that plays important roles in emotion, learning, memory and persistent pain. Our previous studies have demonstrated that the enhancement of excitatory synaptic transmission was induced by peripheral inflammation and nerve injury in ACC synapses. However, little information is available on their presynaptic mechanisms, since the source of the enhanced synaptic transmission could include the enhanced probability of neurotransmitter release at existing release sites and/or increases in the number of available vesicles. The present study aims to perform quantal analysis of excitatory synapses in the ACC with chronic pain to examine the source of these increases. The quantal analysis revealed that both probability of transmitter release and number of available vesicles were increased in a mouse model of peripheral inflammation, whereas only probability of transmitter release but not number of available vesicles was enhanced in a mouse model of neuropathic pain. In addition, we compared the miniature excitatory postsynaptic potentials (mEPSCs) in ACC synapses with those in other pain-related brain areas such as the amygdala and spinal cord. Interestingly, the rate and amplitude of mEPSCs in ACC synapses were significantly lower than those in the amygdala and spinal cord. Our studies provide strong evidences that chronic inflammatory pain increases both probability of transmitter release and number of available vesicles, whereas neuropathic pain increases only probability of transmitter release in the ACC synapses.
前扣带回皮质(ACC)是一种前脑结构,在情绪、学习、记忆和持续性疼痛中发挥重要作用。我们之前的研究表明,外周炎症和神经损伤可诱导ACC突触中兴奋性突触传递增强。然而,关于其突触前机制的信息很少,因为突触传递增强的来源可能包括现有释放位点神经递质释放概率的增加和/或可用囊泡数量的增加。本研究旨在对患有慢性疼痛的ACC中的兴奋性突触进行量子分析,以检查这些增加的来源。量子分析显示,在外周炎症小鼠模型中,递质释放概率和可用囊泡数量均增加,而在神经性疼痛小鼠模型中,仅递质释放概率增加,可用囊泡数量未增加。此外,我们比较了ACC突触中的微小兴奋性突触后电位(mEPSCs)与杏仁核和脊髓等其他疼痛相关脑区中的mEPSCs。有趣的是,ACC突触中mEPSCs的频率和幅度显著低于杏仁核和脊髓中的mEPSCs。我们的研究提供了有力证据,表明慢性炎症性疼痛会增加递质释放概率和可用囊泡数量,而神经性疼痛只会增加ACC突触中的递质释放概率。
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