Although research has vastly increased our knowledge regarding the basic mechanisms of acute, inflammatory and neuropathic pain, relatively little is known about the processes involved in the transition from acute to chronic pai. The goal of this COBRE application is to develop a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence that will significantly contribute to the scientific understanding of the neurobiology of chronic pin and sensory function, facilitating the discovery and development of novel therapies. The proposed research center will build around a core group of neuroscientists, pharmacologists and chemists at the University of New England (UNE) whose research is focused on understanding the neurobiology of pain. The COBRE will provide the junior investigators with a career development plan, mentorship, and research infrastructure that will facilitate gaining independent investigator status. Furthermore, new faculty recruitment is designed to strengthen our medicinal chemistry capabilities in collaboration with the College of Pharmacy. In building the chemistry group, the efforts in this COBRE are consistent with the concept of bringing innovative chemistry as a bridge between basic knowledge of pain and therapy. These efforts will provide Center scientists with novel compounds that can be used as valuable tools to explore the pathophysiology of chronic pain and ultimately may be advanced as clinical candidates in partnerships developed within the biopharmaceutical setting.
Specific Aim 1 will increase the number of neuroscience investigators at UNE to create a critical mass of researchers necessary to sustain a vibrant and competitive research center.
This Aim will be accomplished by fostering the pain related research programs of four current UNE junior faculty members who have not received R01 or comparable Research Project Grant support. In addition, we will recruit and hire an additional three investigators whose research programs will complement those of the existing faculty.
Specific Aim 2 will expand neuroscience research infrastructure at UNE, providing access to core facilities that allow investigators to carry out cutting edge research on the neurobiological processes involved in the development of chronic pain.
This Aim will be accomplished through the renovation of laboratory space, the purchase of core behavioral, imaging and histology equipment, and funding of key support personnel. Completion of these Aims will develop the research careers of a multidisciplinary group of junior investigators, and establish the core facilities and equipment necessary to constitute a competitive research center.

Public Health Relevance

Chronic pain continues to be a major health, social and economic problem throughout the world, affecting an estimated 1 in 3 individuals. Current therapies for chronic pain offer only modest efficacy and/or have serious side-effects. As a result, there is a need to focus on treating pain, on preventing the development of chronic pain, and on research and development of novel treatments (including restoration of lost function and improvement of quality of life).

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Exploratory Grants (P20)
Project #
1P20GM103643-01A1
Application #
8216804
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRR1-RI-4 (01))
Program Officer
Canto, Maria Teresa
Project Start
2012-08-15
Project End
2017-05-31
Budget Start
2012-08-15
Budget End
2013-05-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$2,424,844
Indirect Cost
$433,812
Name
University of New England
Department
Physiology
Type
Schools of Osteopathic Medicine
DUNS #
071735252
City
Biddeford
State
ME
Country
United States
Zip Code
04005
Cone, Katherine; Lanpher, Janell; Kinens, Abigail et al. (2018) Delta/mu opioid receptor interactions in operant conditioning assays of pain-depressed responding and drug-induced rate suppression: assessment of therapeutic index in male Sprague Dawley rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 235:1609-1618
Cao, Ling; Malon, Jennifer T (2018) Anti-nociceptive Role of CXCL1 in a Murine Model of Peripheral Nerve Injury-induced Neuropathic Pain. Neuroscience 372:225-236
Gjelsvik, Kayla Jane; Follansbee, Taylor Leon; Ganter, Geoffrey Karl (2018) Bone Morphogenetic Protein Glass Bottom Boat (BMP5/6/7/8) and its receptor Wishful Thinking (BMPRII) are required for injury-induced allodynia in Drosophila. Mol Pain 14:1744806918802703
McLane, Virginia D; Kumar, Saurabh; Leeming, Reno et al. (2018) Morphine-potentiated cognitive deficits correlate to suppressed hippocampal iNOS RNA expression and an absent type 1 interferon response in LP-BM5 murine AIDS. J Neuroimmunol 319:117-129
Davis, Seth M; Rice, Makaela; Rudlong, Jacob et al. (2018) Neonatal pain and stress disrupts later-life pavlovian fear conditioning and sensory function in rats: Evidence for a two-hit model. Dev Psychobiol 60:520-533
Remeniuk, Bethany; King, Tamara; Sukhtankar, Devki et al. (2018) Disease modifying actions of interleukin-6 blockade in a rat model of bone cancer pain. Pain 159:684-698
Govea, Rosann M; Barbe, Mary F; Bove, Geoffrey M (2017) Group IV nociceptors develop axonal chemical sensitivity during neuritis and following treatment of the sciatic nerve with vinblastine. J Neurophysiol 118:2103-2109
Havelin, Joshua; Imbert, Ian; Sukhtankar, Devki et al. (2017) Mediation of Movement-Induced Breakthrough Cancer Pain by IB4-Binding Nociceptors in Rats. J Neurosci 37:5111-5122
Lei, Wei; Mullen, Nathan; McCarthy, Sarah et al. (2017) Heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90) promotes opioid-induced anti-nociception by an ERK mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) mechanism in mouse brain. J Biol Chem 292:10414-10428
Follansbee, Taylor L; Gjelsvik, Kayla J; Brann, Courtney L et al. (2017) Drosophila Nociceptive Sensitization Requires BMP Signaling via the Canonical SMAD Pathway. J Neurosci 37:8524-8533

Showing the most recent 10 out of 36 publications