Forebrain Overexpression of CaMKII Abolishes Cingulate Long Term Depression and Reduces Mechanical Allodynia and Thermal Hyperalgesia
Date
2006-6-15
Authors
Wei, Feng
Wang, Guo-Du
Zhang, Chao
Shokat, Kevan M.
Wang, Huimin
Tsien, Joe Z.
Liauw, Jason
Zhuo, Min
Version
OA Version
Citation
Wei, Feng, Guo-Du Wang, Chao Zhang, Kevan M Shokat, Huimin Wang, Joe Z Tsien, Jason Liauw, Min Zhuo. "Forebrain overexpression of CaMKII abolishes cingulate long term depression and reduces mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia" Molecular Pain 2:21. (2006)
Abstract
Activity-dependent synaptic plasticity is known to be important in learning and memory, persistent pain and drug addiction. Glutamate NMDA receptor activation stimulates several protein kinases, which then trigger biochemical cascades that lead to modifications in synaptic efficacy. Genetic and pharmacological techniques have been used to show a role for Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII) in synaptic plasticity and memory formation. However, it is not known if increasing CaMKII activity in forebrain areas affects behavioral responses to tissue injury. Using genetic and pharmacological techniques, we were able to temporally and spatially restrict the over expression of CaMKII in forebrain areas. Here we show that genetic overexpression of CaMKII in the mouse forebrain selectively inhibits tissue injury-induced behavioral sensitization, including allodynia and hyperalgesia, while behavioral responses to acute noxious stimuli remain intact. CaMKII overexpression also inhibited synaptic depression induced by a prolonged repetitive stimulation in the ACC, suggesting an important role for CaMKII in the regulation of cingulate neurons. Our results suggest that neuronal CaMKII activity in the forebrain plays a role in persistent pain.
Description
License
Copyright 2006 Wei et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.