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 563

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

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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 (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 4336 KiB  
Article
Humanized scFv Molecule Specific to an Extracellular Epitope of P2X4R as Therapy for Chronic Pain Management
by Adinarayana Kunamneni and Karin N. Westlund
Cells 2025, 14(13), 953; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells14130953 - 22 Jun 2025
Viewed by 384
Abstract
Chronic pain affects a significant portion of the population, with fewer than 30% achieving adequate relief from existing treatments. This study describes the humanization methodology and characterization of an effective non-opioid single-chain fragment variable (scFv) biologic that reverses pain-related behaviors, in this case [...] Read more.
Chronic pain affects a significant portion of the population, with fewer than 30% achieving adequate relief from existing treatments. This study describes the humanization methodology and characterization of an effective non-opioid single-chain fragment variable (scFv) biologic that reverses pain-related behaviors, in this case by targeting P2X4. After nerve injury, ATP release activates/upregulates P2X4 receptors (P2X4R) sequestered in late endosomes, triggering a cascade of chronic pain-related events. Nine humanized scFv (hscFv) variants targeting a specific extracellular 13-amino-acid peptide fragment of human P2X4R were generated via CDR grafting. ELISA analysis revealed nanomolar binding affinities, with most humanized molecules exhibiting comparable or superior affinity compared to the original murine antibody. Octet measurements confirmed that the lead, HC3-LC3, exhibited nanomolar binding kinetics (KD = 2.5 × 10−9 M). In vivo functional validation with P2X4R hscFv reversed nerve injury-induced chronic pain-related behaviors with a single dose (0.4 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) within two weeks. The return to naïve baseline remained durably reduced > 100 days. In independent confirmation, the spared nerve injury (SNI) model was similarly reduced. This constitutes an original method whereby durable reversals of chronic nerve injury pain, anxiety and depression measures are accomplished. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanisms and Therapies in Chronic Pain)
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