Sodium channels in normal and pathological pain

SD Dib-Hajj, TR Cummins, JA Black… - Annual review of …, 2010 - annualreviews.org
SD Dib-Hajj, TR Cummins, JA Black, SG Waxman
Annual review of neuroscience, 2010annualreviews.org
Nociception is essential for survival whereas pathological pain is maladaptive and often
unresponsive to pharmacotherapy. Voltage-gated sodium channels, Nav1. 1–Nav1. 9, are
essential for generation and conduction of electrical impulses in excitable cells. Human and
animal studies have identified several channels as pivotal for signal transmission along the
pain axis, including Nav1. 3, Nav1. 7, Nav1. 8, and Nav1. 9, with the latter three
preferentially expressed in peripheral sensory neurons and Nav1. 3 being upregulated …
Nociception is essential for survival whereas pathological pain is maladaptive and often unresponsive to pharmacotherapy. Voltage-gated sodium channels, Nav1.1–Nav1.9, are essential for generation and conduction of electrical impulses in excitable cells. Human and animal studies have identified several channels as pivotal for signal transmission along the pain axis, including Nav1.3, Nav1.7, Nav1.8, and Nav1.9, with the latter three preferentially expressed in peripheral sensory neurons and Nav1.3 being upregulated along pain-signaling pathways after nervous system injuries. Nav1.7 is of special interest because it has been linked to a spectrum of inherited human pain disorders. Here we review the contribution of these sodium channel isoforms to pain.
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