When pain signals are passed along the nervous system, proteins called calcium channels play a key role. Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, have now pinpointed the exact location of a specific calcium channel fine-tuning the strength of pain signals. This knowledge can be used to develop drugs for chronic pain that are more effective and have fewer side effects.
Pain sensations and other information are mainly conducted through our nervous system as electrical signals. Yet at decisive moments, this information is converted to biochemical signals, in the form of specific molecules. To develop future drugs against pain, researchers must understand the details of what happens at the molecular level when pain signals are converted from one form to another.
When the electrical signal reaches the end of one nerve cell it is converted into a biochemical signal, in the form of calcium. In turn, an increase in calcium triggers the release of signalling molecules called neurotransmitters. This biochemical signal is received by the next nerve cell, that converts the signal back into electricity.
Along this chain of information transfer in the nervous system, one class of proteins is of particular interest: the voltage-sensitive calcium channels. These channels are like molecular machines that sense electrical signals and then open to allow calcium to flow into the nerve cell. In the current study, researchers at Linköping University have focused on a specific type of calci.