Chronic neuropathic pain, which results from peripheral nerve damage, chemotherapy-induced neuropathy (CIPN) and spinal cord injury remains a clinical challenge. Since current pain killers are only partially effective and bring severe side effects, there is an urgent need for novel analgesic therapies.
PIANO-ITN has addressed the need for novel and more effective treatments for neuropathic pain through the delineation of novel pathways and identification of strategies to target both sensory neurons and macrophages within the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) in the pain pathways. Indeed, the DRG constitute an ideal site for our investigation as they contain the cell bodies of specialised neurons that transmit noxious signalling from the periphery to the spinal cord on their way to the brain, where pain is perceived. We have addressed the following objectives: i) to develop and characterise innovative biomaterials for use in controlled drug delivery and as contrast agents for imaging studies; ii) to identify novel modalities for neuron communication with macrophages in the DRG in the pain pathway; iii) to define specific roles of neuronal receptors involved in nociceptive processing in DRG.
With a focus on neurons and macrophages, the (10 - 15) Early Scientists Researchers (ESRs) have i) unravelled mechanisms involved in pain signalling and inflammatory processes in DRG, ii) synthesised compounds that inhibit pain-neuron activity, iii) developed targeted nanoparticles to enable sensory neuron visualisation and deliver analgesic compounds and iv) developed non-viral gene transfer technology to promote neuroregeneration in a model of spinal cord injury. The exploitation of our data will eventually lead to improvement of the quality of life of Europeans and impact positively on the health economy of EU countries.
