Archives of oral biology
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Archives of oral biology · Jul 2014
Up-regulation of PKMζ expression in the anterior cingulate cortex following experimental tooth movement in rats.
To explore the involvement of synaptic plasticity in pain induced by experimental tooth movement, we evaluated the expression of protein kinase M zeta (PKMζ), an enzyme necessary for maintaining long-term potentiation (LTP) in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). ⋯ PKMζ in the ACC acts to maintain the pain induced by experimental tooth movement. Increased expression of PKMζ protein is attributed to persistent translation of PKMζ mRNA. Synaptic plasticity may be involved in the development of tooth movement pain.