P2X4 receptors mediate PGE2 release by tissue-resident macrophages and initiate inflammatory pain

EMBO J. 2010 Jul 21;29(14):2290-300. doi: 10.1038/emboj.2010.126. Epub 2010 Jun 18.

Abstract

Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is a key mediator of inflammation and contributes to pain hypersensitivity by promoting sensory neurons hyperexcitability. PGE2 synthesis results from activation of a multi-step enzymatic cascade that includes cyclooxygenases (COXs), the main targets of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Although NSAIDs are widely prescribed to reduce inflammatory symptoms such as swelling and pain, associated harmful side effects restrict their long-term use. Therefore, finding new drugs that limit PG production represents an important therapeutic issue. In response to peripheral inflammatory challenges, mice lacking the ATP-gated P2X4 channel (P2X4R) do not develop pain hypersensitivity and show a complete absence of inflammatory PGE2 in tissue exudates. In resting conditions, tissue-resident macrophages constitutively express P2X4R. Stimulating P2X4R in macrophages triggers calcium influx and p38 MAPK phosphorylation, resulting in cytosolic PLA2 (cPLA2) activation and COX-dependent release of PGE2. In naive animals, pain hypersensitivity was elicited by transfer into the paw of ATP-primed macrophages from wild type, but not P2X4R-deficient mice. Thus, P2X4Rs are specifically involved in inflammatory-mediated PGE2 production and might therefore represent useful therapeutic targets.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adoptive Transfer
  • Animals
  • Arachidonic Acid / metabolism
  • Behavior, Animal / physiology
  • Carrageenan / immunology
  • Carrageenan / pharmacology
  • Dinoprostone / metabolism*
  • Fixatives / pharmacology
  • Formaldehyde / pharmacology
  • Inflammation / chemically induced
  • Inflammation / metabolism*
  • Macrophages / cytology
  • Macrophages / metabolism*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Pain / chemically induced
  • Pain / metabolism*
  • Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases / metabolism
  • Receptors, Purinergic P2 / genetics
  • Receptors, Purinergic P2 / metabolism*
  • Receptors, Purinergic P2X4
  • p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / metabolism

Substances

  • Fixatives
  • P2rx4 protein, mouse
  • Receptors, Purinergic P2
  • Receptors, Purinergic P2X4
  • Formaldehyde
  • Arachidonic Acid
  • Carrageenan
  • Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases
  • p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases
  • Dinoprostone