| Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is ligand-gated ion channel that plays an important role in the pain signaling pathway. It is predominantly expressed by sensory neurons located in trigeminal ganglia or dorsal root ganglia (DRG). TRPV1 has been shown to play a crucial role in the generation and maintenance of inflammatory and neuropathic pain. The involvement of splice variants of TRPV1 in pain pathways is not well known. In this study, the mRNA expression of TRPV1 and 3 splice variants (TRPV1.b, TRPV1.beta, and TRPV1.var) in DRG was measured following chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve in rats. This is the first study to isolate TRPV1.beta in rat DRG. The expression of TRPV1 mRNA was elevated following peripheral nerve damage, but not TRPV1.b, TRPV1.var or TRPV1.beta. These novel findings suggest that the expression of TRPV1 splice variants is not regulated by sciatic nerve injury. |
