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Astrocyte–neuron metabolism

Glycogen from spinal astrocytes dials up the pain

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A recent study in Nature Metabolism uncovers a mechanism for pain sensitization that involves a regulatory protein of glycogen metabolism in spinal astrocytes. Targeting this protein, or the lactate fluxes linked to glycogen breakdown, may provide novel opportunities for pain management.

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Fig. 1: Upregulation of astrocytic glycogen metabolism by PTG is necessary for pain sensitization.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks W. E. Sonntag for helpful comments on the manuscript. Research in the author’s laboratory is supported in part by NIGMS/NIH 5P20GM125528-04 from the Cellular and Molecular GeroScience CoBRE, and the 2022 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research and American Federation for Aging Research Grant for Junior Faculty. The funders had no role in the preparation or the decision to publish this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Physiology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Carlos Manlio Díaz-García

  2. Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Carlos Manlio Díaz-García

  3. Harold Hamm Diabetes Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Carlos Manlio Díaz-García

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  1. Carlos Manlio Díaz-García
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Correspondence to Carlos Manlio Díaz-García.

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Díaz-García, C.M. Glycogen from spinal astrocytes dials up the pain. Nat Metab 6, 384–386 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-024-01000-3

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