Sensitization of spinal trigeminal neurons by environmental and internal factors

本申请是德国对日德联合项目（JSPS）的贡献之一，该项目涉及K。名古屋大学环境医学研究所的Mizumura教授和S.海德堡大学解剖学研究所。该联合项目的目的是阐明内源性因素如一氧化氮（NO），神经生长因子（NGF）或腺苷5 '-三磷酸（ATP）和外源性（环境）因素如环境温度和大气压力如何导致或加重慢性肌肉疼痛和头痛，如紧张型头痛和偏头痛。这些问题将通过分析动物实验中的疼痛行为和外周、脊髓和脑干中的神经元活动来解决。目前的贡献，这一联合项目的重点是ATP的影响，NO的生产和大气压力的降低对大鼠三叉神经脊束神经元的活动，处理传入输入从脑膜和颈部肌肉。NO供体的输注将用于敏化三叉神经系统（“头痛模型”）。此外，将分析在变化的大气压力下致敏后可能的头痛相关行为。这一联合项目背后的协同作用自然源于合作者在各自领域的专业知识，以及在日本合作机构使用气候室的独特机会，可以模拟低大气压力等不同的环境条件。因此，费用主要用于资助科学家的访问。

This application is one of the German contributions of a Japanese-German joint project (JSPS) involving the group of Prof. K. Mizumura, Research Institute of Environmental Medicine at the Nagoya University and the group of Prof. S. Mense, Institute for Anatomy, University of Heidelberg. The purpose of this joint project is to clarify how endogenous factors like nitric oxide (NO), nerve growth factor (NGF) or adenosine 5’-triphosphate (ATP) and exogenous (environmental) factors like ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure can cause or aggravate chronic muscle pain and headaches with muscular contribution like tension-type headache and migraine. These questions will be addressed by analyzing pain behavior and neuronal activities in the periphery, spinal cord and brain stem in animal experiments. The present contribution of this joint project is focused on the influence of ATP, NO production and lowering of atmospheric pressure on the activity of rat spinal trigeminal neurons, which process afferent input from the meninges and the neck muscles. Infusion of a NO donor will be used to sensitize the trigeminal system (“headache model”). Furthermore, possible headache-related behaviors after sensitization under changing atmospheric pressure will be analyzed. The synergy behind this joint project arises naturally from the expertise of the collaborators on their fields that will be brought together and from the unique chance of using a climate chamber at the Japanese partner institution, in which different ambient conditions like low atmospheric pressure can be simulated. Therefore the expenses are predominantly for the visits of contributing scientists.