Referenced in: none

Automatically associated channels: Nav1.7

Title: No gain, no pain: NaV1.7 as an analgesic target.

Authors: Glenn F King, Irina Vetter

Journal, date & volume: ACS Chem Neurosci, 2014 Sep 17 , 5, 749-51

PubMed link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25111714

Abstract
Chronic pain is one of the most complex and difficult to manage clinical problems, with the therapeutic utility of current-generation analgesics restricted by problems such as dose-limiting side effects, tolerance, and the potential for addiction. The voltage-gated sodium channel NaV1.7 plays a key role in setting the threshold for action potential generation in primary sensory neurons, and humans that lack this channel are completely insensitive to pain. In this Viewpoint, we examine the potential of NaV1.7 as an analgesic target a well as the challenges involved in developing therapeutically useful subtype-selective inhibitors of this ion channel.