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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: fj.08-109355v1 22/10/3432    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Niederberger, E. Articles by Geisslinger, G. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Niederberger, E. Articles by Geisslinger, G.

The IKK-NF-B pathway: a source for novel molecular drug targets in pain therapy?

Pharmazentrum Frankfurt/ZAFES, Klinikum der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

¹Correspondence: Pharmazentrum Frankfurt/ZAFES, Institut für Klinische Pharmakologie, Klinikum der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Theodor Stern Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. E-mail: e.niederberger{at}em.uni-frankfurt.de

Several studies indicate that the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-B) -activation cascade plays a crucial role not only in immune responses, inflammation, and apoptosis but also in the development and processing of pathological pain. Accordingly, a pharmacological intervention into this pathway may have antinociceptive effects and could provide novel treatment strategies for pain and inflammation. In this review we summarize the role of NF-B in the nervous system, its impact on nociception, and several approaches that investigated the effects of various modulators of the classical I-B-kinase-NF-B signal transduction pathway in inflammatory nociception and neuropathic pain. The results indicate that NF-B has an impact on nociceptive transmission and processing and that a number of substances that inhibit the NF-B-activating cascade are capable of reducing the nociceptive response in different animal models. Therefore, a modulation of specific participants in the NF-B signal transduction might exert a useful approach for the development of new painkillers.—Niederberger, E., Geisslinger, G. The IKK-NF-B pathway: a source for novel molecular drug targets in pain therapy?

Key Words: inflammation • nervous system • neuropathy