News

Researchers separate analgesic effects from addictive aspects of pain-killing drugs

For the first time, pain researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that it's possible to separate the good effects of opiate drugs such as morphine (pain relief) from the unwanted side effects of those drugs (tolerance, abuse and addiction).

The investigators, led by Zhou-Feng Chen, Ph.D., associate professor of anesthesiology, psychiatry and molecular biology and pharmacology, report their results online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Washington University Pain Center researchers identify a gene for itch sensation

Scientists at Washington University Pain Center have identified the first gene for the itch sensation in the central nervous system. The discovery could rapidly lead to new treatments directly targeting itchiness and providing relief for chronic and severe itching.

The "itch gene" is GRPR (gastrin-releasing peptide receptor), which codes for a receptor found in a very small population of spinal cord nerve cells where pain and itch signals are transmitted from the skin to the brain. The researchers, led by Zhou-Feng Chen, Ph.D., found that laboratory mice that lacked this gene scratched much less than their normal cage-mates when given itchy stimuli. Their results will be published in the July, 2007 issue of the journal Nature.

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Washington University Pain Center hosted the Midwest Regional Pain Interest Group Meeting June 8 and 9, 2007

The Midwest Pain Interest Group Meeting is an annual meeting of basic scientists, clinicians, and their trainees that work in the pain field.  This year it was hosted by the Washington University Pain center at the beautiful Westin St. Louis Hotel, right across the street from the new Busch Stadium.   This year the plenary speaker was Dr. Jeffrey Mogil from McGill University, who gave a seminar entitled "The Nature and Nurture of Pain." 

Washington University Pain Center researchers identify potential targets for new pain therapies

Studying mice, pain researchers at the Washington University Pain Center have identified two key components in the pain cascade that may provide targets for more effective analgesic drugs with potentially fewer side effects.

A team led by Robert W. Gereau IV, Ph.D., associate professor of anesthesiology, reports in the April 6 issue of the journal Neuron the identification of a potassium channel that plays a crucial role in what scientists call pain plasticity, the ability of molecules in the spinal cord to amplify or diminish the response to a painful stimulus.

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Winter, 2007 Washington University Pain Center Newsletter Published

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Pain Center Appoints New Faculty Members

     Yu-Qing Cao, Ph.D

Yu-Qing Cao, Ph.D. has been appointed as Assistant Professor in the Washington University Pain Center's Basic Research Division in the Department of Anesthesiology at Washginton University School of Medicine.  Dr. Cao is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University, where she has been working in the laboratory of Dr. Richard Tsien. Dr. Cao’s recent research addresses the molecular basis of an inherited form of migraine headache. Dr. Cao’s work has revealed that the mutations in ion channel genes responsible for familial hemiplegic migraine type 1 cause dramatic changes in

communication between neurons, and she is now working to understand how these changes lead to debilitating migraine pain. Dr. Cao is bringing an extremely important new area of research to the Washington University Pain Center and the Department of Anesthesiology.

                  Gina Story, Ph.D.

 Gina Story, Ph.D. has been appointed as Assistant Professor in the Washington University Pain Center's Basic Research Division in the Department of Anesthesiology at Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Story was formerly a postdoctoral research fellow at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla,California, where she worked in the laboratory of Dr. Ardem Patapoutian for five

years. Dr. Story's research has elucidated the molecular basis for painful cold sensation and the pungent burning quality of certain chemical agents and foods such as wasabi and fresh garlic. Dr. Story will be joining the Pain Center by year's end. She will bring a new and very important area of pain research to the Washington University Pain Center and the Department of Anesthesiology.

Pain Center Awarded Pfizer Visiting Professorship

Dr. Robert Gereau and Dr. Robert Swarm of the Washington University Pain Center received an award from Pfizer Global Pharmaceuticals to support a visiting professorship which occurred November 30th through December 2nd. The "Pfizer Visiting Professorship in Pain Medicine" supported a visit by Dr. James Campbell of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The 3 day visit included meetings with scientists, clinicians, and students, as well as a series of lectures. The lectures included a seminar entitled "The role of intact nociceptors
                           Drs. Campbell and Gereau in the production of neuropathic pain"

presented as part of the Pain Center seminar series in conjunction with the Anesthesiology Research Unit, and another lecture entitled "The sympathetic nervous system and pain: from mechanism to bedside" which was given at the weekly Grand Rounds of the Department of Anesthesiology. Finally, Dr. Campbell spoke in the Pain Centers Clinical Seminar Series on "Surgical approaches to pain."