The activity of voltage-gated sodium channels has long been linked to disorders of neuronal excitability such as epilepsy and chronic pain. Recent genetic studies have now expanded the role of sodium channels in health and disease, to include autism, migraine, multiple sclerosis, cancer as well as muscle and immune system disorders. Transgenic mouse models have proved useful in understanding the physiological role of individual sodium channels, and there has been significant progress in the development of subtype selective inhibitors of sodium channels. This review will outline the functions and roles of specific sodium channels in electrical signalling and disease, focusing on neurological aspects. We also discuss recent advances in the development of selective sodium channel inhibitors.

Voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) play a key role in the initiation and propagation of action potentials in neurons. NaV1.8 is a tetrodotoxin (TTX) resistant VGSC expressed in nociceptors, peripheral small-diameter neurons able to detect noxious stimuli. NaV1.8 underlies the vast majority of sodium currents during action potentials. Many studies have highlighted a key role for NaV1.8 in inflammatory and chronic pain models. Lipid rafts are microdomains of the plasma membrane highly enriched in cholesterol and sphingolipids. Lipid rafts tune the spatial and temporal organisation of proteins and lipids on the plasma membrane. They are thought to act as platforms on the membrane where proteins and lipids can be trafficked, compartmentalised and functionally clustered. In the present study we investigated NaV1.8 sub-cellular localisation and explored the idea that it is associated with lipid rafts in nociceptors. We found that NaV1.8 is distributed in clusters along the axons of DRG neurons in vitro and ex vivo. We also demonstrated, by biochemical and imaging studies, that NaV1.8 is associated with lipid rafts along the sciatic nerve ex vivo and in DRG neurons in vitro. Moreover, treatments with methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MβCD) and 7-ketocholesterol (7KC) led to the dissociation between rafts and NaV1.8. By calcium imaging we demonstrated that the lack of association between rafts and NaV1.8 correlated with impaired neuronal excitability, highlighted by a reduction in the number of neurons able to conduct mechanically- and chemically-evoked depolarisations. These findings reveal the sub-cellular localisation of NaV1.8 in nociceptors and highlight the importance of the association between NaV1.8 and lipid rafts in the control of nociceptor excitability.

Background: The P450 arachidonic acid metabolite, 20-HETE, is potently vasoactive and structurally related to known TRPV1 agonists.

Results: 20-HETE activates native murine and heterologously expressed human TRPV1, and sensitizes both wild-type and the hTRPV1 S502A mutant to stimulation by capsaicin and acidic pH.

Conclusion: 20-HETE is a novel potential endogenous activator of TRPV1.

Significance: The biological activity of 20-HETE may be partly mediated by its action on TRPV1.

TRPV1 is a member of the transient receptor potential ion channel family and is gated by capsaicin, the pungent component of chili pepper. It is expressed predominantly in small diameter peripheral nerve fibers and is activated by noxious temperatures >42 °C. 20-Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) is a cytochrome P-450 4A/4F-derived metabolite of the membrane phospholipid arachidonic acid. It is a powerful vasoconstrictor and has structural similarities with other TRPV1 agonists, e.g. the hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoic acid 12-HPETE, and we hypothesized that it may be an endogenous ligand for TRPV1 in sensory neurons innervating the vasculature. Here, we demonstrate that 20-HETE both activates and sensitizes mouse and human TRPV1, in a kinase-dependent manner, involving the residue Ser502 in heterologously expressed hTRPV1, at physiologically relevant concentrations.

KV1.1 is a Shaker homologue K+ channel that contributes to the juxta-paranodal membrane conductance in myelinated axons, and is blocked by fampridine (4-aminopyridine), used to treat the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. The present experiments investigate KV1.1 function in primary sensory neurons and A-fibres, and help define its characteristics as a drug-target using sequence specific small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs). siRNA (71 nM) was used to knock-down functional expression of KV1.1 in sensory neurons (> 25 μm in apparent diameter) in culture, and was also delivered intrathecally in vivo (9.3 μg). K+ channel knock-down in sensory neurons was found to make the voltage-threshold for action potential generation significantly more negative than in control (p = 0.02), led to the breakdown of accommodation and promoted spontaneous action potential firing. Exposure to dendrotoxin-K (DTX-K, 10–100 nM) also selectively abolished K+ currents at negative potentials and made voltage-threshold more negative, consistent with KV1.1 controlling excitability close to the nominal resting potential of the neuron cell body, near − 60 mV. Introduction of one working siRNA sequence into the intrathecal space in vivo was associated with a small increase in the amplitude of the depolarising after-potential in sacral spinal roots (p < 0.02), suggesting a reduction in the number of working K+ channels in internodal axon membrane. Our study provides evidence that KV1.1 contributes to the control of peripheral sensory nerve excitability, and suggests that its characteristics as a putative drug target can be assessed by siRNA transfection in primary sensory neurons in vitro and in vivo.

The voltage-gated sodium channel NaV1.8 is expressed exclusively in nociceptive sensory neurons and plays an important role in pain pathways. NaV1.8 cannot be functionally expressed in non-neuronal cells even in the presence of β-subunits. We have previously identified Pdzd2, a multi PDZ-domain protein, as a potential interactor for NaV1.8. Here we report that Pdzd2 binds directly to the intracellular loops of NaV1.8 and NaV1.7. The endogenous NaV1.8 current in sensory neurons is inhibited by antisense- and siRNA-mediated downregulation of Pdzd2. However, no marked change in pain behaviours is observed in Pdzd2-decificent mice. This may be due to compensatory upregulation of p11, another regulatory factor for NaV1.8, in dorsal root ganglia of Pdzd2-deficient mice. These findings reveal that Pdzd2 and p11 play collaborative roles in regulation of NaV1.8 expression in sensory neurons.

Changes in sodium channel activity and neuronal hyperexcitability contribute to neuropathic pain, a major clinical problem. There is strong evidence that the re-expression of the embryonic voltage-gated sodium channel subunit Nav1.3 underlies neuronal hyperexcitability and neuropathic pain.

Here we show that acute and inflammatory pain behaviour is unchanged in global Nav1.3 mutant mice. Surprisingly, neuropathic pain also developed normally in the Nav1.3 mutant mouse. To rule out any genetic compensation mechanisms that may have masked the phenotype, we investigated neuropathic pain in two conditional Nav1.3 mutant mouse lines. We used Nav1.8-Cre mice to delete Nav1.3 in nociceptors at E14 and NFH-Cre mice to delete Nav1.3 throughout the nervous system postnatally. Again normal levels of neuropathic pain developed after nerve injury in both lines. Furthermore, ectopic discharges from damaged nerves were unaffected by the absence of Nav1.3 in global knock-out mice. Our data demonstrate that Nav1.3 is neither necessary nor sufficient for the development of nerve-injury related pain.

In mammalian cells, little is known about the nature of recombination-prone regions of the genome. Previously, we reported that the immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) μ locus behaved as a hotspot for mitotic, intrachromosomal gene conversion (GC) between repeated μ constant (Cμ) regions in mouse hybridoma cells. To investigate whether elements within the μ gene regulatory region were required for hotspot activity, gene targeting was used to delete a 9.1 kb segment encompassing the μ gene promoter (Pμ), enhancer (Eμ) and switch region (Sμ) from the locus. In these cell lines, GC between the Cμ repeats was significantly reduced, indicating that this ‘recombination-enhancing sequence’ (RES) is necessary for GC hotspot activity at the IgH locus. Importantly, the RES fragment stimulated GC when appended to the same Cμ repeats integrated at ectopic genomic sites. We also show that deletion of Eμ and flanking matrix attachment regions (MARs) from the RES abolishes GC hotspot activity at the IgH locus. However, no stimulation of ectopic GC was observed with the Eμ/MARs fragment alone. Finally, we provide evidence that no correlation exists between the level of transcription and GC promoted by the RES. We suggest a model whereby Eμ/MARS enhances mitotic GC at the endogenous IgH μ locus by effecting chromatin modifications in adjacent DNA.

Homologous recombination (HR) is important in repairing errors of replication and other forms of DNA damage. In mammalian cells, potential templates include the homologous chromosome, and after DNA replication, the sister chromatid. Previous work has shown that the mammalian recombination machinery is organized to suppress interchromosomal recombination while preserving intrachromosomal HR. In the present study, we investigated spontaneous intrachromosomal HR in mouse hybridoma cell lines in which variously numbered tandem repeats of the µ heavy chain constant (Cµ) region reside at the haploid, chromosomal immunoglobulin µ heavy chain locus. This organization provides the opportunity to investigate recombination between homologous gene repeats in a well-defined chromosomal locus under conditions in which recombinants are conveniently recovered. This system revealed several features about the mammalian intrachromosomal HR process: (i) the frequency of HR was high (recombinants represented as much as several percent of the total of recombinants and non-recombinants); (ii) the recombination process appeared to be predominantly non-reciprocal, consistent with the possibility of gene conversion; (iii) putative gene conversion tracts were long (up to 13.4 kb); (iv) the recombination process occurred with precision, initiating and terminating within regions of shared homology. The results are discussed with respect to mammalian intrachromosomal HR involving interactions both within and between sister chromatids.

In mammalian cells, several features of the way homologous recombination occurs between transferred and chromosomal DNA are consistent with the double-strand-break repair (DSBR) model of recombination. In this study, we examined the segregation patterns of small palindrome markers, which frequently escape mismatch repair when encompassed within heteroduplex DNA formed in vivo during mammalian homologous recombination, to test predictions of the DSBR model, in particular as they relate to the mechanism of crossover resolution. According to the canonical DSBR model, crossover between the vector and chromosome results from cleavage of the joint molecule in two alternate sense modes. The two crossover modes lead to different predicted marker configurations in the recombinants, and assuming no bias in the mode of Holliday junction cleavage, the two types of recombinants are expected in equal frequency. However, we propose a revision to the canonical model, as our results suggest that the mode of crossover resolution is biased in favor of cutting the DNA strands upon which DNA synthesis is occurring during formation of the joint molecule. The bias in junction resolution permitted us to examine the potential consequences of mismatch repair acting on the DNA breaks generated by junction cutting. The combination of biased junction resolution with both early and late rounds of mismatch repair can explain the marker patterns in the recombinants.

In this study, the mechanism of mammalian gene replacement was investigated. The system is based on detecting homologous recombination between transferred vector DNA and the haploid, chromosomal immunoglobulin μ-δ region in a murine hybridoma cell line. The backbone of the gene replacement vector (pCμCδpal) consists of pSV2neo sequences bounded on one side by homology to the μ gene constant (Cμ) region and on the other side by homology to the δ gene constant (Cδ) region. The Cμ and Cδ flanking arms of homology were marked by insertions of an identical 30-bp palindrome which frequently escapes mismatch repair when in heteroduplex DNA (hDNA). As a result, intermediates bearing unrepaired hDNA generate mixed (sectored) recombinants following DNA replication and cell division. To monitor the presence and position of sectored sites and, hence, hDNA formation during the recombination process, the palindrome contained a unique NotI site that replaced an endogenous restriction enzyme site at each marker position in the vector-borne Cμ and Cδ regions. Gene replacement was studied under conditions which permitted the efficient recovery of the product(s) of individual recombination events. Analysis of marker segregation patterns in independent recombinants revealed that extensive hDNA was formed within the Cμ and Cδ regions. In several recombinants, palindrome markers in the Cμ and Cδ regions resided on opposite DNA strands (trans configuration). These results are consistent with the mammalian gene replacement reaction involving two crossing-over events in homologous flanking DNA.