Rosenbaum Tamara, Simon Sidney A, Islas Leon D
Departamento de Biofísica, Instituto de Fisiología Celular, Ciudad Universitaria, Universidad Nacional Autonóma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
Methods Mol Biol. 2010;617:223-36. doi: 10.1007/978-1-60327-323-7_18.
Several recent techniques have allowed us to pinpoint the receptors responsible for the detection of nociceptive stimuli. Among these receptors, ion channels play a fundamental role in the recognition and transduction of stimuli that can cause pain. During the last decade, compelling evidence has been gathered on the role of the TRPV1 channel in inflammatory and neuropathic states. Activation of TRPV1 in nociceptive neurons results in the release of neuropeptides and transmitters, leading to the generation of action potentials that will be sent to higher CNS areas, where they will often be perceived as pain. Its activation will also evoke the peripheral release of pro-inflammatory compounds that may sensitize other neurons to physical, thermal, or chemical stimuli. For these reasons, and because its continuous activation causes analgesia, TRPV1 is now considered a viable drug target for clinical use in the management of pain. Using the TRPV1 channel as an example, here we describe some basic biophysical approaches used to study the properties of ion channels involved in pain and in analgesia.
最近的几项技术使我们能够确定负责检测伤害性刺激的受体。在这些受体中，离子通道在识别和转导可导致疼痛的刺激方面发挥着重要作用。在过去十年中，关于TRPV1通道在炎症和神经病理性状态中的作用已经收集了令人信服的证据。伤害性神经元中TRPV1的激活导致神经肽和递质的释放，从而产生动作电位，这些动作电位将被发送到更高的中枢神经系统区域，在那里它们通常会被感知为疼痛。其激活还将引发促炎化合物的外周释放，这些化合物可能会使其他神经元对物理、热或化学刺激敏感。由于这些原因，并且因为其持续激活会导致镇痛作用，TRPV1现在被认为是疼痛管理临床应用中可行的药物靶点。以TRPV1通道为例，我们在此描述一些用于研究参与疼痛和镇痛的离子通道特性的基本生物物理方法。
