Mechanisms and Therapies in Chronic Pain

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Cellular Pathology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 December 2025 | Viewed by 87

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Immunology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
Interests: immunology; proteomics; RNA therapeutics; neuroimmunology; inflammation

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Guest Editor
Department of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA
Interests: pain; neuropathy; RNA control; natural product; transcriptomics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Pain is a vital biological signal that safeguards our well-being, alerting us to injury and promoting healing. However, when pain lingers well past its protective phase, it transforms into chronic pain, a condition that affects roughly 20% of adults worldwide. This persistent pain not only erodes quality of life and productivity but also places a staggering economic burden on healthcare systems globally.

Traditional treatments, including opioids and gabapentinoids, have provided some relief yet come with serious drawbacks, ranging from limited efficacy to addiction. These challenges underscore the urgent need for a deeper understanding of the mechanisms driving chronic pain and the development of more targeted, safer therapies.

This Special Issue, “Mechanisms and Therapies in Chronic Pain”, will spotlight cutting-edge research that unravels the complex pathophysiology of chronic pain. We are particularly interested in studies that elucidate novel cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying chronic pain and those that introduce promising therapeutic targets. Recent breakthroughs, including the approval of Nav1.8 inhibitors for acute pain management and their potential extension to chronic pain, underscore the dynamic progress that has been made in this field. We invite the submission of original research articles, reviews, and translational studies that bridge laboratory discoveries and clinical applications, paving the way for more effective and safer pain management strategies.

Dr. Nikesh Kunder
Dr. June Bryan I. de la Peña
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • chronic pain
  • pain mechanisms
  • pain targets
  • opioid alternatives
  • neurobiology
  • pre-clinical
  • translational research
  • pathophysiology
  • pain management

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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