Regulation of pain transmission by a neuropeptide nocistatin binding protein.

神经肽Nocistatin对神经损伤和炎症后的慢性疼痛具有抑制作用。我们从小鼠脊髓突触体膜中鉴定出一种与nocistatin相互作用的蛋白质（Nocistatin binding protein，NSP）。Nocistatin与在神经组织中广泛表达的29-kDa NSP的N-末端截短形式相互作用。在野生型小鼠中观察到的nocistatin对触觉异常性疼痛的抑制在NSP缺陷型小鼠中完全缺乏，并且在缺陷型小鼠中炎性疼痛延长。

The neuropeptide nocistatin has inhibitory effects on chronic pain after nerve injury and inflammation. We identified a protein (Nocistatin binding protein, NSP) that interacted with nocistatin from synaptosomal membranes of mouse spinal cord. Nocistatin interacted with the N-terminal truncated form of 29-kDa NSP that was ubiquitously expressed in neural tissues. The inhibition of tactile allodynia by nocistatin seen in wild-type mice was completely lacking in NSP-deficient mice, and the inflammatory pain was prolonged in the deficient mice.