Characterization of acute somatosensory pain transmission in P/Q-type Ca2+ channel mutant mice, leaner

AbstractTo study the role of the Cav2.1/α1A (P/Q-type) Ca2+ channel in somatosensory pain processing, behavioral and electrophysiological studies were conducted using the leaner (tgla/tgla) mouse. Behavioral analyses in tgla/tgla revealed reduced responses to mechanical stimuli, and enhanced responses to heat stimuli. Electrophysiological analyses showed that tgla/tgla had a significantly reduced ability to evoke dorsal root potentials, suggesting a functional deficit in the spinal dorsal horn local circuitry responsible for presynaptic inhibition of primary sensory fibers. These results suggest the critical importance of the P/Q-type channel in modulation of acute somatosensory pain transmission in spinal cord