The activation of the ERK pathway contributes to the spinal c-fos expression observed after noxious bladder stimulation

• Tipo: Artigo em Revista Científica Internacional
• Data: 2007

Autores

Cruz C.D. (Autor) FMUP; Ferreira, D (Autor) Outra; Cruz, CD (Autor) Outra; Ferreira, D (Autor) Outra; Mcmahon, SB (Autor) Outra; Francisco Cruz (Autor) FMUP

Revista

Título: Somatosensory and Motor Research

Vol. 24

Páginas: 15-20

ISSN: 0899-0220

Editora: Taylor & Francis

Indexação

ISI Web of Knowledge - 24 Citações

Scopus - 26 Citações

Outras Informações

ID Authenticus: P-004-ENA

DOI: 10.1080/08990220601143265

Abstract (EN): C-fos is an immediate-early gene whose expression in the spinal cord has been extensively used as a marker of peripheral noxious stimulation. The Fos protein accumulates in the nuclei of spinal neurons, reaching detectable levels 2 h after stimulation. The ERK pathway is an important signalling pathway in spinal cord neurons. ERK is activated upon phosphorylation on specific amino acid residues. Its activation in the spinal cord, following noxious stimulation, has been shown to contribute to the establishment and maintenance of long-term neuronal alterations associated with chronic pain. Phosphorylated ERK can target several cellular elements, including transcription factors, which indicates that ERK participates in the regulation of gene expression. The relation between ERK and c-fos is at present still unclear. Some in vitro studies have reached the conclusion that ERK contributes to c-fos regulation whereas others have provided evidence of ERK-independent c-fos expression. In fact, in the spinal cord the occurrence of c-fos expression in the absence of ERK phosphorylation has been reported. In this study we investigated in vivo the contribution of ERK to c-fos expression in the spinal cord. By inhibiting spinal ERK activation with intrathecal administration of PD98059, we verified that ERK phosphorylation does contribute to regulate c-fos expression upon noxious bladder stimulation.

Idioma: Inglês

Tipo (Avaliação Docente): Científica

Nº de páginas: 6