Dept. of Applied Dental Medicine, Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine, 2800 College Avenue, Alton, IL 62002, USA.
Arch Oral Biol. 2011 Dec;56(12):1604-9. doi: 10.1016/j.archoralbio.2011.06.014. Epub 2011 Jul 23.
Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels, a family of structurally related proteins have been implicated in the sensation of pain and hyperalgesia caused by exogenous and endogenous agonists, as well as touch, pH, and temperature. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of tooth injury on the expression of the cold sensitive channel TRPA1, in the trigeminal ganglion, the primary source of sensory and nociceptive innervation of teeth.
We analyzed TRPA1 expression in a rodent model of tooth injury, by Western blot analyses of proteins extracted from trigeminal ganglia.
We found that TRPA1 was selectively increased in trigeminal ganglia innervating injured teeth when compared to TRPA1 expression in trigeminal ganglia innervating healthy teeth.
Our results provide the first evidence of increased expression of a cold-sensitive TRP channel in trigeminal ganglia after pulp exposure, and are consistent with the possibility that increased expression and function of TRPA1 in trigeminal neurons contributes to hyperalgesia and allodynia following tooth injury.
瞬时受体电位（TRP）通道是一类结构相关的蛋白家族，它们在外源和内源性激动剂引起的疼痛和痛觉过敏以及触觉、pH 值和温度感知中发挥作用。本研究旨在确定牙齿损伤对三叉神经节中冷敏感通道 TRPA1 表达的影响，三叉神经节是牙齿感觉和伤害性传入的主要来源。
我们通过对三叉神经节提取的蛋白质进行 Western blot 分析，分析了啮齿动物牙齿损伤模型中 TRPA1 的表达情况。
与三叉神经节中支配健康牙齿的 TRPA1 表达相比，我们发现支配损伤牙齿的三叉神经节中 TRPA1 选择性增加。
我们的研究结果首次提供了牙髓暴露后三叉神经节中冷敏感 TRP 通道表达增加的证据，并且支持 TRPA1 在三叉神经神经元中的表达和功能增加可能导致牙齿损伤后的痛觉过敏和感觉异常的可能性。
