RNA-seq of spinal cord from nerve-injured rats after spinal cord stimulation

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a treatment for neuropathic pain, but how it works on a molecular level isn't well understood. This study used RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to examine gene expression changes in the spinal cord of nerve-injured rats after SCS treatment. The study found that SCS increased the expression of immune response genes and repressed the transcription of synaptic signaling genes. These transcriptional changes may explain the therapeutic effects of SCS and could help identify new targets for pain treatment. Specifically, SCS downregulated several genes encoding scaffold proteins located on the postsynaptic membrane in nerve-injured rats after SCS for the first time, which may impact neurotransmission and synaptic efficacy associated with central sensitization.

• 1
  Repetitive SCS further increases many existing upregulated immune responses in chronic constrictive injury rats, including transcription of cell surface receptors and activation of non-neuronal cells.
• 2
  Repetitive SCS represses transcription of several key synaptic signaling genes that encode scaffold proteins in the post-synaptic density.
• 3
  SCS was associated with decreased expression of Slc6a11. Thus, a decrease of Slc6a11 expression by SCS may be a previously uncharacterized mechanism that promotes pain inhibition through increased availability of GABA within the synaptic cleft.