Objectif Chronic pain undermines the health and welfare of millions of EU citizens and carries enormous financial costs. Individual variability in the burden of pain has traditionally been attributed to psychosocial factors. However, new data indicate that there is an important heritable predisposition to pain, particularly to the development of chronic pain after neural injury (neuropathic pain). Pain susceptibility genes are intrinsically hard to detect in human lineages and populations. We propose the alternative approach of exploiting new rodent models of neuropathy to uncover pain susceptibility loci and associated neurobiological processes, using inbred mouse strains that show high versus low pain phenotype. Linkage analysis and positional cloning, together with expression arrays and a variety electrophysiological and neurochemical methods applied to primary sensory neurons, will be used to identify the biological causes of contrasting pain phenotype. The strategy is to identify genetic and cellular variables that co-vary with pain phenotype across strains. With mouse candidate genes in hand, identification of the human orthologs is feasible. We stress that our project does not aim to find genes that affect susceptibility to specific disease entities that may be painful. Rather, we focus on genes and processes that determine the amount of pain felt by an individual in the presence of a specific disease state or degree of tissue injury. That is, we will investigate pain susceptibility genes rather than disease susceptibility genes. Such genes, and the neural processes with which they are associated, are expected to affect pain intensity irrespective of the proximate cause of the neural damage: trauma, surgery, neoplasm, infection or disease. Results will facilitate the development of novel prognostic, diagnostic and treatment options for chronic pain sufferers, with benefits also for their families, employers and European economies. Champ scientifique medical and health sciencesclinical medicinesurgerynatural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesnatural sciencesmathematicspure mathematicsmathematical analysisfunctional analysisnatural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticschromosomesnatural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsgenomes Mots‑clés nerve injury neuropathy pain Programme(s) FP6-LIFESCIHEALTH - Life sciences, genomics and biotechnology for health: Thematic Priority 1 under the Focusing and Integrating Community Research programme 2002-2006. Thème(s) LSH-2002-2.1.3-8 - Genetics and neurobiology of pain Appel à propositions FP6-2002-LIFESCIHEALTH Voir d’autres projets de cet appel Régime de financement STREP - Specific Targeted Research Project Coordinateur THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM Contribution de l’UE Aucune donnée Adresse Mt Scopus campus JERUSALEM Israël Voir sur la carte Coût total Aucune donnée Participants (4) Trier par ordre alphabétique Trier par contribution de l’UE Tout développer Tout réduire KAROLINSKA INSTITUTET Suède Contribution de l’UE Aucune donnée Adresse Nobels Vaeg 1 STOCKHOLM Voir sur la carte Coût total Aucune donnée FRIEDRICH-ALEXANDER UNIVERSITAET ERLANGEN - NUERNBERG Allemagne Contribution de l’UE Aucune donnée Adresse Schlossplatz 4 ERLANGEN Voir sur la carte Coût total Aucune donnée UNIVERSITY OF PECS Hongrie Contribution de l’UE Aucune donnée Adresse Szanto Kovacs J. u. 1/b PECS Voir sur la carte Coût total Aucune donnée SANOFI-AVENTIS DEUTSCHLAND GMBH Allemagne Contribution de l’UE Aucune donnée Adresse Industriepark Hoechst, Building G 879 FRANKFURT AM-MAIN Voir sur la carte Coût total Aucune donnée