| Our somatosensory system is a complex framework that receives, transmits and processes an assortment of stimuli from the external environment. It is via these processes that the five basic senses are invariably distinguished. Nociception involves the transmission of noxious stimuli from cutaneous, visceral and somatic regions, which can cause or have potential to cause injury to tissue. Pain, on the other hand, is defined as the unpleasant sensory and emotional experience that is associated with tissue injury. Through the activation of sensory C- and Aδ-afferent nociceptors, nociceptive pain is perceived. Nociceptive pain serves to protect tissue and organs from severe injury and is an indispensable component for survival. On the other hand, pathophysiological pain evokes exaggerated behavioral responses to both innocuous (allodynia) and noxious (hyperalgesia) stimuli and serves no protective or preserving role. The following work investigates presynaptic nociceptor-fiber pharmacology via a recombinant viral vector strategy. This novel approach provided a means by which to examine distinct presynaptic pharmacology observed between C- versus Aδ-afferents that is hypothesized disparate, in part, due to specific receptor localization inherent to the spinal terminals of these fibers. |
