Editor’s note: This is the 11th in a series of weekly PRF seminars designed to help keep the pain research community connected during the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide all members of our community with virtual educational opportunities. The seminar series is supported by the Center for Advanced Pain Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas, US.
The IASP Pain Research Forum hosted a seminar with Venetia Zachariou, PhD, and Kerri Pryce, PhD, both of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, US,on Monday, July 13, 2020, noon–1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (US)/5-6 p.m. BST/6-7 p.m. CEST. A Q&A session moderated by Andrea Hohmann, PhD, Indiana University, Bloomington, US, followed the presentation.
- Venetia Zachariou, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, US
- Kerri Pryce, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, US
- Andrea Hohmann, Indiana University, US
A recording of this seminar will soon be freely available to IASP members at the IASP Pain Education Resource Center (PERC).
Here is an abstract from the presenters
The Zachariou laboratory utilizes preclinical models to investigate signal transduction and transcriptional mechanisms associated with chronic pain states. Our approach integrates genomic and molecular tools coupled with genetic mouse models to understand the impact of long-term nerve injury on cellular plasticity in central and peripheral regions. This seminar will highlight key findings on gene expression adaptations in the brain triggered by prolonged nerve injury and comorbid depression-like states. Dr. Venetia Zachariou will discuss her lab’s work on interventions in histone deacetylase activity to promote recovery from sensory hypersensitivity. Using mouse models of peripheral nerve injury, the lab has shown that inhibition of the epigenetic modifier histone deacetylase 5 (HDAC5) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) accelerates recovery from sensory hypersensitivity following treatment with antidepressants. Ongoing work in the lab focuses on the identification of HDAC5 target genes and closed chromatin marks to develop interventions that would disrupt the maintenance of chronic pain states. To this extent, the group has observed recovery from sensory and affective symptoms of long-term peripheral nerve injury with overexpression of the transcription factor MEF2C (myocyte enhancer factor 2C), which is an HDAC5 target, in the NAc. Dr. Kerri Pryce will discuss a recent project in which he applied a model of oxycodone misuse; his findings demonstrate that prolonged peripheral nerve injury promotes unique gene expression adaptations in components of the brain reward center under states of opioid physical dependence.
About the presenters
Venetia Zachariou, PhD, is a tenured professor in the Departments of Neuroscience and Pharmacological Sciences at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her research focuses on signal transduction and epigenetic mechanisms underlying CNS disorders and their treatments. Her team applies multidisciplinary approaches to understand the intracellular and epigenetic mechanisms of chronic pain, addiction, and depression. She is a member of the editorial board of Biological Psychiatry and Molecular Pain, a member of the ASPET Neuropharmacology Division Executive Committee, and a member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology Women’s Task Force.
Kerri Pryce, PhD, completed his graduate studies at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, investigating the role of scaffolding molecules on the expression and function of ion channels. He has extensive expertise in rodent pain behavior; spinal cord; dorsal root ganglia; and brain biochemistry, electrophysiology, and genomic assays. His current project involves genomic assays to understand nerve injury-induced transcriptional adaptations in the dorsal root ganglia and brain reward pathway. He is also interested in molecular plasticity associated with opioid actions under chronic pain states.
About the moderator
Andrea G. Hohmann, PhD, is a Linda and Jack Gill Chair of Biomolecular Science and professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University. She received her PhD from Brown University and completed postdoctoral training at NIMH and NIDCR in functional neuroanatomy and pain, and neurosensory mechanisms. Her research exploits novel mechanisms for suppressing pain with an emphasis on targeting the endocannabinoid signaling system for therapeutic benefit. She is a recipient of the Young Investigator Award from the International Cannabinoid Research Society, a Lilly Presidential Life Science Professorship, and an International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines (IACM) Award for major contributions to cannabinoid basic research. Dr. Hohmann is a fellow of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Her research has harnessed the therapeutic potential of the endocannabinoid signaling system to suppress pain while minimizing unwanted side effects (i.e., psychoactivity and addiction). Dr. Hohmann’s research goal is to identify novel therapeutic interventions for treating pain that lack abuse liability and adverse side effects.
Join the conversation about the seminar on Twitter @PainResForum #PRFSeminar
We thank the Center for Advanced Pain Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas, US, for its support of the PRF seminar series.
