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TrpA1 regulates thermal nociception in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: Pain is a significant medical concern and represents a major unmet clinical need. The ability to perceive and react to tissue-damaging stimuli is essential in order to maintain bodily integrity in the face of environmental danger. To prevent damage the systems that detect noxious stimuli are therefore under strict evolutionary pressure. We developed a high-throughput behavioral method to identify genes contributing to thermal nociception in the fruit fly and have reported a large-scale screen that identified the Ca²? channel straightjacket (stj) as a conserved regulator of thermal nociception. Here we present the minimal anatomical and neuronal requirements for Drosophila to avoid noxious heat in our novel behavioral paradigm. Bioinformatics analysis of our whole genome data set revealed 23 genes implicated in Ca²? signaling that are required for noxious heat avoidance. One of these genes, the conserved thermoreceptor TrpA1, was confirmed as a bona fide "pain" gene in both adult and larval fly nociception paradigms. The nociceptive function of TrpA1 required expression within the Drosophila nervous system, specifically within nociceptive multi-dendritic (MD) sensory neurons. Therefore, our analysis identifies the channel TRPA1 as a conserved regulator of nociception.

SUBMITTER: Neely GG

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3164203 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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TrpA1 regulates thermal nociception in Drosophila.

Neely G Gregory GG Keene Alex C AC Duchek Peter P Chang Elaine C EC Wang Qiao-Ping QP Aksoy Yagiz Alp YA Rosenzweig Mark M Costigan Michael M Woolf Clifford J CJ Garrity Paul A PA Penninger Josef M JM

PloS one 20110831 8

Pain is a significant medical concern and represents a major unmet clinical need. The ability to perceive and react to tissue-damaging stimuli is essential in order to maintain bodily integrity in the face of environmental danger. To prevent damage the systems that detect noxious stimuli are therefore under strict evolutionary pressure. We developed a high-throughput behavioral method to identify genes contributing to thermal nociception in the fruit fly and have reported a large-scale screen th ...[more]

PMID: 21909389

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Project description:Vanilloid receptor subunit 1 (VR1) appears to play a critical role in the transduction of noxious chemical and thermal stimuli by sensory nerve endings in peripheral tissues. Thus, VR1 antagonists are useful compounds to unravel the contribution of this receptor to pain perception, as well as to induce analgesia. We have used a combinatorial approach to identify new, nonpeptidic channel blockers of VR1. Screening of a library of trimers of N-alkylglycines resulted in the identification of two molecules referred to as DD161515 [N-[2-(2-(N-methylpyrrolidinyl)ethyl]glycyl]-[N-[2,4-dichlorophenethyl]glycyl]-N-(2,4-dichlorophenethyl)glycinamide] and DD191515 [[N-[3-(N,N-diethylamino)propyl]glycyl]-[N-[2,4-dichlorophenethyl]glycyl]-N-(2,4-dichlorophenethyl)glycinamide] that selectively block VR1 channel activity with micromolar efficacy, rivaling that characteristic of vanilloid-related inhibitors. These compounds appear to be noncompetitive VR1 antagonists that recognize a receptor site distinct from that of capsaicin. Intraperitoneal administration of both trialkylglycines into mice significantly attenuated thermal nociception as measured in the hot plate test. It is noteworthy that these compounds eliminated pain and neurogenic inflammation evoked by intradermal injection of capsaicin into the animal hindpaw, as well as the thermal hyperalgesia induced by tissue irritation with nitrogen mustard. In contrast, responses to mechanical stimuli were not modified by either compound. Modulation of sensory nerve fibers excitability appears to underlie the peptoid analgesic activity. Collectively, these results indicate that blockade of VR1 activity attenuates chemical and thermal nociception and hyperalgesia, supporting the tenet that this ionotropic receptor contributes to chemical and thermal sensitivity and pain perception in vivo. These trialkylglycine-based, noncompetitive VR1 antagonists may likely be developed into analgesics to treat inflammatory pain.

Dataset Information

TrpA1 regulates thermal nociception in Drosophila.

Publications

TrpA1 regulates thermal nociception in Drosophila.

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