Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30788514›Full record

ReviewCellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS2019

Presynaptic NMDA receptors control nociceptive transmission at the spinal cord level in neuropathic pain.

Meichun Deng, Shao-Rui Chen, Hui-Lin Pan

Open access · greenAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 76 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
76citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
6.9field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

76 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 129 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  13. GαScience signaling · 2025
    Article
  14. New Diagnostic and Therapeutic Targets for Spinal Cord Injury: GRN Gene.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2025
    Article
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16 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.

Meichun DengDepartment of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Center for Neuroscience and Pain Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Unit 110, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
Shao-Rui ChenDepartment of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Center for Neuroscience and Pain Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Unit 110, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
Hui-Lin PanDepartment of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Center for Neuroscience and Pain Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Unit 110, Houston, TX, 77030, USA. huilinpan@mdanderson.org.
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center · US

Funding

Molecular Determinants of Synaptic Plasticity in Chronic PainR01NS101880 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · PI Shao-Rui Chen, Hui-Lin Pan · 2017 to 2026
$4.1M
Mechanisms of Neuronal Plasticity in Neuropathic PainR01GM120844 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · PI PAN, HUI-LIN · 2016 to 2019
$1.6M
NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM120844NIH HHS GM120844NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS101880
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Chronic neuropathic pain is a debilitating condition that remains challenging to treat. Glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonists have been used to treat neuropathic pain, but the exact sites of their actions have been unclear until recently. Although conventionally postsynaptic, NMDARs are also expressed presynaptically, particularly at the central terminals of primary sensory neurons, in the spinal dorsal horn. However, presynaptic NMDARs in the spinal cord are normally quiescent and are not actively involved in physiological nociceptive transmission. In this review, we describe the emerging role of presynaptic NMDARs at the spinal cord level in chronic neuropathic pain and the implications of molecular mechanisms for more effective treatment. Recent studies indicate that presynaptic NMDAR activity at the spinal cord level is increased in several neuropathic pain conditions but not in chronic inflammatory pain. Increased presynaptic NMDAR activity can potentiate glutamate release from primary afferent terminals to spinal dorsal horn neurons, which is crucial for the synaptic plasticity associated with neuropathic pain caused by traumatic nerve injury and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. Furthermore, α2δ-1, previously considered a calcium channel subunit, can directly interact with NMDARs through its C-terminus to increase presynaptic NMDAR activity by facilitating synaptic trafficking of α2δ-1-NMDAR complexes in neuropathic pain caused by chemotherapeutic agents and peripheral nerve injury. Targeting α2δ-1-bound NMDARs with gabapentinoids or α2δ-1 C-terminus peptides can attenuate nociceptive drive form primary sensory nerves to dorsal horn neurons in neuropathic pain.

Indexed as

AnimalsMiceNeuralgiaNociceptionNociceptive PainNociceptorsRatsReceptors, N-Methyl-D-AspartateReceptors, PresynapticSpinal CordReceptors, N-Methyl-D-AspartateReceptors, PresynapticCalcineurinDorsal root ganglionGabapentinK+–Cl− cotransporter-2PregabalinSynaptic plasticity

Identifiers

PMID30788514
PMCPMC6482077
OpenAlexW2917093803

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.