Exploitation of new pharmacological targets for neuropathic pain reliefe

Neuropathic pain is a complex chronic condition which affects the somatosensory system, poorly managed with the conventional treatments despite the immense advances in pain treatment strategies. Damage of peripheral nervous system, due to injury or disease, leads to abnormal responses to painful and not-painful stimuli; conventional analgesics can only alleviate pain in acute situation, and finding an effective treatment which can relief chronic neuropathic pain remains still challenging. Mammalian STOML3, a MEC-2 homologue, is a member of a large family of stomatin proteins characterized by a common stomatin domain, expressed by DRG sensory neurons involved in regulation of mechanosensation, which is required for normal mechanoreceptor function. Previous data revealed that in STOML3 null mice 30-40% of Aδ and Aβ fibers lacked all mechanosensitivity; in addition, tactile behaviors are impaired and symptoms of neuropathic pain in CCI mice are also largely attenuated (Wetzel et al, 2007). Here I investigated the mechanisms by which STOML3 acts as an important contributor in the neuropathic pain symptoms and I demonstrate that small molecule modulation that both reversibly silence mechanoreceptors in vivo and attenuate touch perception in mice can reverse established neuropathic pain symptoms, making STOML3 a promising novel peripheral target for the treatment of sensory disorders.