ArticleNature neuroscience2012
P2X4R+ microglia drive neuropathic pain.
Article in Nature neuroscience, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 194 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
194 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 358 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sexually Dimorphic Neuroimmune Pathways in Chronic Pain: A Comprehensive Systematic Review of Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms.Biomolecules · 2026Pooled it
- Neuropathic pain in burn patients - A common problem with little literature: A systematic review.Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries · 2024Pooled it
- Qualitative review on N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor expression in rat spinal cord during the postnatal development: Implications for central sensitization and pain.Developmental neurobiology · 2020Pooled it
- Sacral Nerve Modulation Alleviates Neuropathic Pelvic Pain Through Modulation of the Spinal Immune Microenvironment and Microglial Activation.Journal of neuroimmune pharmacology : the official journal of the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology · 2026Article
- A BRD4/p300/SP1 epigenetic cascade drives microglial P2X4R transcription and promotes neuropathic pain.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Article
- Article
- Sex-Specific Mechanisms of Central Sensitization: A Narrative Review of the Neuroimmune Architecture of Chronic Pain.Cureus · 2026Review
- From Amputation to Persistent Pain: A Review of Molecular and Cellular Processes in Phantom Limb Pain.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Microglia Polarization: A Key Regulatory Mechanism of Neuropathic Pain.Journal of pain research · 2026Review
- Garlic-derived bioactive components in neuropathic pain: molecular mechanisms and therapeutic promise.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2026Review
- A bioelectromagnetic hypothesis of chronic primary pain: from thalamocortical dysrhythmia to the consciousness-brain interface.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Neuroimmune regulation of visceral pain: roles of microglia, purinergic signaling, and neuroinflammation.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Medial Olivocochlear Efferent Modulation of Cochlear Micromechanics Requires P2X4 Receptor in Outer Hair Cells.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Tibolone Improves Motor Recovery and Regulates Neuroinflammation and Gliosis in a Model of Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Electroacupuncture alleviates capsaicin-induced rectal visceral pain in rats via inhibiting TRPV1 expression by blocking the P2X4R-activated p38 pathway.Purinergic signalling · 2025Article
- How microglia contribute to the induction and maintenance of neuropathic pain.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2025Review
- The dorsal column nuclei scale mechanical sensitivity in naive and neuropathic pain states.Cell reports · 2025Article
- Mechanisms and Therapeutic Prospects of Microglia-Astrocyte Interactions in Neuropathic Pain Following Spinal Cord Injury.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Review
- Resolvin D1 accelerates resolution of neuroinflammation by inhibiting microglia activation through the BDNF/TrkB signaling pathway.European journal of medical research · 2025Article
- Regulation of GABAergic neurotransmission by purinergic receptors in brain physiology and disease.Purinergic signalling · 2025Review
134 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Neuropathic pain, the most debilitating of all clinical pain syndromes, may be a consequence of trauma, infection or pathology from diseases that affect peripheral nerves. Here we provide a framework for understanding the spinal mechanisms of neuropathic pain as distinct from those of acute pain or inflammatory pain. Recent work suggests that a specific microglia response phenotype characterized by de novo expression of the purinergic receptor P2X4 is critical for the pathogenesis of pain hypersensitivity caused by injury to peripheral nerves. Stimulating P2X4 receptors initiates a core pain signaling pathway mediated by release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which produces a disinhibitory increase in intracellular chloride in nociceptive (pain-transmitting) neurons in the spinal dorsal horn. The changes caused by signaling from P2X4R(+) microglia to nociceptive transmission neurons may account for the main symptoms of neuropathic pain in humans, and they point to specific interventions to alleviate this debilitating condition.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.