英國和加拿大等國研究人員在新一期英國《自然－醫(yī)學(xué)》雜志上報告說,，他們在對偏頭痛的研究中發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個與疼痛敏感度有關(guān)的基因,，如果能研發(fā)出影響這個基因的藥物，將有可能通過調(diào)節(jié)神經(jīng)對疼痛的敏感程度,，幫助人們不再受疼痛的困擾,。
研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，如果一個名為TRESK的基因發(fā)生變異,，那么病人會更容易感到頭痛,，甚至對光線、聲音和觸碰都更敏感,。進(jìn)一步研究顯示,，這個基因控制著大腦中處理疼痛信號的神經(jīng)的敏感度，當(dāng)該基因發(fā)生變異時,，身體稍有變化就會感覺到疼痛,。
來自英國牛津大學(xué)的研究人員扎米爾·卡德爾說，這一發(fā)現(xiàn)不僅有助于治療偏頭痛,，還有望在此基礎(chǔ)上研發(fā)通用的鎮(zhèn)痛藥物,，使人們免受疼痛困擾。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦英文摘要：
Nature Medicine doi:10.1038/nm.2216
A dominant-negative mutation in the TRESK potassium channel is linked to familial migraine with aura
Ronald G Lafrenière1,2,13, M Zameel Cader3,4,13, Jean-Fran?ois Poulin2, Isabelle Andres-Enguix5, Maryse Simoneau2, Namrata Gupta2, Karine Boisvert2, Fran?ois Lafrenière2, Shannon McLaughlan2, Marie-Pierre Dubé6, Martin M Marcinkiewicz7, Sreeram Ramagopalan8, Olaf Ansorge9, Bernard Brais1, Jorge Sequeiros10, Jose Maria Pereira-Monteiro11, Lyn R Griffiths12, Stephen J Tucker5, George Ebers8 & Guy A Rouleau1,2
Migraine with aura is a common, debilitating, recurrent headache disorder associated with transient and reversible focal neurological symptoms1. A role has been suggested for the two-pore domain (K2P) potassium channel, TWIK-related spinal cord potassium channel (TRESK, encoded by KCNK18), in pain pathways and general anaesthesia2. We therefore examined whether TRESK is involved in migraine by screening the KCNK18 gene in subjects diagnosed with migraine. Here we report a frameshift mutation, F139WfsX24, which segregates perfectly with typical migraine with aura in a large pedigree. We also identified prominent TRESK expression in migraine-salient areas such as the trigeminal ganglion. Functional characterization of this mutation demonstrates that it causes a complete loss of TRESK function and that the mutant subunit suppresses wild-type channel function through a dominant-negative effect, thus explaining the dominant penetrance of this allele. These results therefore support a role for TRESK in the pathogenesis of typical migraine with aura and further support the role of this channel as a potential therapeutic target.
