Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Aug;230(2):273-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2011.05.005. Epub 2011 May 13.

Nav1.7 accumulates and co-localizes with phosphorylated ERK1/2 within transected axons in early experimental neuromas

Anna-Karin Persson  1 , Andreas Gasser, Joel A Black, Stephen G Waxman
Affiliations

Nav1.7 accumulates and co-localizes with phosphorylated ERK1/2 within transected axons in early experimental neuromas

Anna-Karin Persson et al. Exp Neurol. 2011 Aug.

Abstract

Peripheral nerve injury can result in formation of a neuroma, which is often associated with heightened sensitivity to normally innocuous stimuli as well as spontaneous dysesthesia and pain. The onset and persistence of neuropathic pain have been linked to spontaneous ectopic electrogenesis in axons within neuromas, suggesting an involvement of voltage-gated sodium channels. Sodium channel isoforms Na(V)1.3, Na(V)1.7 and Na(V)1.8 have been shown to accumulate in chronic painful human neuromas, while, to date, only Na(V)1.3 has been reported to accumulate within experimental neuromas. Although recent evidence strongly support a major contribution for Na(V)1.7 in nociception, the expression of Na(V)1.7 in injured axons within acute neuromas has not been studied. The current study examined whether Na(V)1.7 accumulates in experimental rat neuromas. We further investigated whether activated (phosphorylated) mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase ERK1/2, which is known to modulate Na(V)1.7 properties, is co-localized with Na(V)1.7 within axons in neuromas. We demonstrate increased levels of Na(V)1.7 in experimental rat sciatic nerve neuromas, 2weeks after nerve ligation and transaction. We further show elevated levels of phosphorylated ERK1/2 within individual neuroma axons that exhibit Na(V)1.7 accumulation. These results extend previous descriptions of sodium channel and MAP kinase accumulation within experimental and human neuromas, and suggest that targeted blockade of Na(V)1.7 or ERK1/2 may provide a strategy for amelioration of chronic pain that often follows nerve injury and formation of neuromas.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources