• Takashi Kurihara, Eri Sakurai, Masayasu Toyomoto, Isao Kii, Daisuke Kawamoto, Toshihide Asada, Tsutomu Tanabe, Megumu Yoshimura, Masatoshi Hagiwara, and Atsuro Miyata.
• Department of Pharmacology, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima City, Kagoshima 890-8544, Japan. tkmphm10@m.kufm.kagoshima-u.ac.jp.
• Mol Pain. 2014 Jan 1;10:17.

BackgroundThe phylogenetically highly conserved CK1 protein kinases consisting of at least seven isoforms form a distinct family within the eukaryotic protein kinases. CK1 family members play crucial roles in a wide range of signaling activities. However, the functional role of CK1 in somatosensory pain signaling has not yet been fully understood. The aim of this study was to clarify the role of CK1 in the regulation of inflammatory pain in mouse carrageenan and complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) models.ResultsWe have used two structurally different CK1 inhibitors, TG003 and IC261. TG003, which was originally identified as a cdc2-like kinase inhibitor, had potent inhibitory effects on CK1 isoforms in vitro and in cultured cells. Intrathecal injection of either TG003 (1-100 pmol) or IC261 (0.1-1 nmol) dose-dependently decreased mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia induced by carrageenan or CFA. Bath-application of either TG003 (1 μM) or IC261 (1 μM) had only marginal effects on spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs) recorded in the substantia gelatinosa neurons of control mice. However, both compounds decreased the frequency of sEPSCs in both inflammatory pain models.ConclusionsThese results suggest that CK1 plays an important pathophysiological role in spinal inflammatory pain transmission, and that inhibition of the CK1 activity may provide a novel strategy for the treatment of inflammatory pain.

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