QBI Neuroscience Seminar: Glycinergic synapses in the spinal cord: their relevance to chronic pain and its treatment

Event Details

Date:

Wednesday, 23 April 2014 - Wednesday, 23 April 2014

Time:

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Room:

Auditorium, level 7

UQ Location:

Queensland Brain Institute (St Lucia)

URL:

http://qbi.uq.edu.au/group-leader-lynch

Event category(s):

Full Description:: Speaker: Professor Joe Lynch
The Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland

Title: Glycinergic synapses in the spinal cord: their relevance to chronic pain and its treatment

Abstract: Glycine receptor (GlyR) chloride channels mediate neurotransmission at inhibitory synapses in the spinal cord and brainstem. Most of these synapses exclusively incorporate α1 GlyR subunits. However, glycinergic synapses on pain sensory neurons in the spinal cord dorsal horn are unique in that they incorporate α3 GlyR subunits. Inflammatory mediators (e.g., prostaglandin E2) induce chronic inflammatory pain by phosphorylating, and inhibiting, α3 GlyRs. This disinhibits spinal pain sensory neurons, thereby increasing the transmission of pain impulses to the brain. This model, which provides a paradigm for understanding chronic pain sensitisation, predicts that drugs that selectively enhance α3 GlyR inhibitory synaptic currents should be analgesic. In this talk, I will describe our recent progress in developing new small molecule analgesics that work by specifically targeting α3 GlyRs.