• Cunjin Wang, Hongjun Wang, Jun Pang, Li Li, Suming Zhang, Ge Song, Na Li, Junping Cao, and Licai Zhang.
• Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Anesthesiology, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, 221004, China.
• J. Mol. Neurosci. 2014 Jan 1; 54 (2): 156-63.

AbstractTreating neuropathic pain is a major clinical challenge, and several key molecules associated with nociception have been suggested as potential targets for novel analgesics. Many studies have reported the anti-nociceptive effects of glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), but the underlying mechanism remains largely unknown. The present study was performed to assess the effects of GDNF in a mouse model of chronic constriction injury (CCI)-induced neuropathic pain. We also determined the potential role of E-cadherin/p120 catenin (p120ctn) signaling in these effects. Mice received an intrathecal acute injection of PBS, GDNF, and DECMA-1 (an E-cadherin functional blocking antibody) or a combination of DECMA-1 with GDNF on the testing days. Our results demonstrated that CCI caused a rapid decrease in E-cadherin and membrane-associated p120ctn in the spinal dorsal horn. Together, these data demonstrated that E-cadherin-associated p120ctn was upregulated by GDNF and that this upregulation was inhibited by pre-treatment with DECMA-1. Moreover, DECMA-1 significantly inhibited the effect of GDNF on thermal hyperalgesia. These data suggest that GDNF might have a therapeutic potential for the treatment of CCI-induced neuropathic pain and that the E-cadherin/p120ctn might play a role in GDNF-induced attenuation of thermal hyperalgesia.

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