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Acid-sensing ion channels 3: a potential therapeutic target for pain treatment in arthritis

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Abstract

Acid-sensing ion channels 3 (ASIC3) is the most sensitive to such a pH change, predominantly distributed in the sensory peripheral nervous system, and strongly correlated with pain. Recently, there is increasing evidence that ASIC3 may contribute to the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory pain diseases due to it is predominantly expressed in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons making it a good candidate for a pain sensor. Elevated expression of ASIC3 was found in DRG of rodents with inflamed hind paws. In addition, it has been shown that ASIC3 gene knock-out mice (ASIC3−/−) exhibited no enhanced hyperalgesia in inflamed joint. All theses findings suggest that ASIC3 have important biological effects in inflammation that might be a promising therapeutic target for arthritis pain. In this review, we will briefly discuss the biological features of ASIC3 and summarize recent advances on the role of ASIC3 in the pathogenesis and treatment of arthritis pain.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the China National Science Foundation grants no. 30901526 and no. 30873080.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Third Hospital Affiliated to Nantong University, 214041, Wuxi, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Feng-Lai Yuan, Wei-Guo Lu & Xia Li

  2. Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, 230032, Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Fei-Hu Chen

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  1. Feng-Lai Yuan
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Correspondence to Fei-Hu Chen.

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Yuan, FL., Chen, FH., Lu, WG. et al. Acid-sensing ion channels 3: a potential therapeutic target for pain treatment in arthritis. Mol Biol Rep 37, 3233–3238 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-009-9907-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-009-9907-6

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