Special Issue "Ion Channels as Therapeutic Targets for Pain"

Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Mark A. Schumacher
Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 521 Parnassus Avenue, (0648), San Francisco, CA 94143-0648, USA
E-Mail: schumacm@anesthesia.ucsf.edu
Interests: capsaicin receptor; gene; genomics; Nerve Growth Factor (NGF); nociceptor; pain; promoter; splice variant; transcription factor-Sp1; TRPV1; VR1

Dear Colleagues,

Pain still remains an immense clinical challenge. Our ability to effectively treat acute and especially chronic painful conditions often causes unwanted side-effects that degrade the quality of life. The last decade has seen an explosive growth in our understanding of how the sensation of pain is initiated at the peripheral terminals of primary afferent neurons – nociceptors. These specialized nerve terminals express a diverse array of ion channel - receptors that transduce noxious chemical, thermal and mechanical stimuli. Together, these ion channels serve to detect impending and ongoing tissue damage arising from pathophysiologic states such as inflammation and nerve injury. This section will focus on the therapeutic potential of targeting specific ion channels expressed in nociceptors to more effectively treat painful conditions.

Prof. Dr. Mark A. Schumacher
Guest Editor

Submission

All manuscripts should be submitted to pharmaceuticals@mdpi.com with a copy to the Guest Editor. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pharmaceuticals is an international peer-reviewed Open Access monthly journal published by MDPI.

• TRP channels
• capsaicin receptor
• TRPV1
• TRPA1
• TRPV4
• P2X
• purinergic receptor
• calcium channel
• ASIC
• acid sensing channel
• sodium channel
• NaV 1.8
• NaV 1.9
• TTX-R sodium channel
• potassium channel – two pore
• pain
• primary afferent nociceptor
• analgesia
• nociception

Type of Paper: Review
Tentative Title: Why in spite of many progresses we still suffer from pain?
Authors: Dieter D’hoedt and Daniel Bertrand; E-Mail: Dieter.Dhoedt@unige.ch (D.D.)
Abstract: Sensations play a decisive role in our day-to-day life and are, at their extreme, ranging from pleasure to pain. An obvious question is why; in spite of the progresses made in our knowledge of neurophysiology we are still limited in our possibilities to treat pain. The aim of this review is a comprehensive overview of the elements involved in sensory perception with their pathways and regulation. Analysis of the determinants transforming normal sensation to pain and its exacerbation of sensory stimuli is discussed in the light of the latest finding in the field of voltage- and ligand-gated channels.