Understanding pain perception
Nature Genetics
September 16, 2013
A genetic alteration that causes the congenital inability to experience pain is reported online this week in Nature Genetics.
Ingo Kurth and colleagues report the identification of a mutation in the SCN11A gene in individuals born with an inability to perceive pain. The authors engineered mice to carry the mutation and found that these mice have reduced sensitivity to pain.
SCN11A is known to encode an ion channel that is expressed in nerve cells that transmit pain signals.Kurth and colleagues found that mutant channels showed excessive activity, suggesting that these channels may be useful targets for the development of a therapeutic intervention to modulate pain perception.
doi: 10.1038/ng.2767
Research highlights
-
Aug 12
Ageing: Mutations in the ageing human heart identifiedNature Aging
-
Aug 12
Palaeontology: T. rex and relatives traded big eyes for bigger bitesCommunications Biology
-
Aug 10
Epidemiology: Estimating the risk of SARS-related coronaviruses from bats in Southeast AsiaNature Communications
-
Aug 5
Microbiology: Single switch makes Escherichia coli beneficial insect partnerNature Microbiology
-
Aug 5
Conservation: More than half of unassessable species may be at risk of extinctionCommunications Biology
-
Aug 4
Physiology: Restoring cellular functions in pigs after deathNature