Research Interests:
Although acute pain is an important adaptive mechanism that alerts
an organism to tissue injury and initiates behavior to avoid further
injury, chronic pain serves no useful purpose. My research program
addresses mechanisms underlying hyperalgesia, the increased sensation
of pain that is felt following tissue injury. Mechanisms for hyperalgesia
are explored at both ends of sensory neurons: at the peripheral
end (for example, in the skin) where the signal of a noxious stimulus
is generated, and in the spinal cord, where the first synapse in
the pathway for sensation of pain is located. Using activity-dependent
fluorescent dyes, we determine whether substances generated by peripheral
tissues and by cancer cells act directly on sensory neurons to enhance
the response of these neurons to noxious stimuli. Molecular biology
and biochemistry are used to study plasticity in expression of receptors,
ion channels and enzymes in intracellular signaling pathways in
sensory and spinal neurons as mechanisms underlying chronic pain.
Conversely, we are interested in how the activity of sensory neurons
can be suppressed. Cannabinoid-like compounds are of interest because
they are generated by our bodies and may have therapeutic value
in inhibiting pain.
Selected Publications:
Groth RD, Coicou LG, Mermelstein PG, Seybold VS. Neurotrophin activation of NFAT-dependent transcription contributes to the regulation of pro-nociceptive genes. J Neurochem. 2007 Aug;102(4):1162-74.
Khasabova IA, Stucky CL, Harding-Rose C, Eikmeier L, Beitz AJ, Coicou LG, Hanson AE, Simone DA, Seybold VS. Chemical interactions between fibrosarcoma cancer cells and sensory neurons contribute to cancer pain.
J Neurosci. 2007 Sep 19;27(38):10289-98.
Seybold VS, Coicou LG, Groth RD, Mermelstein PG. Substance P initiates NFAT-dependent gene expression in spinal neurons. J. Neurochem. 2006 Apr;97(2):397-407.
Khasabova, I.A., C. Harding-Rose, D. A. Simone and V. S. Seybold. 2004 Differential effects of CB1 and opioid agonists on two populations
of adult rat dorsal root ganglion neurons. Journal of Neuroscience
24:1744-1753.
Anderson, L.E. and V.S. Seybold. 2004 Calcitonin gene-related peptide
regulates gene transcription in primary afferent neurons. Journal
of Neurochemistry 91:1417-1429.
Seybold, V.S., K.E. McCarson, P.G. Mermelstein, R.D. Groth and
L.G. Abrahams. Calcitonin gene-related peptide regulates expression
of neurokinin1 receptors by rat spinal neurons. Journal of Neuroscience.
23:1816-1824, 2003.
Former Graduate Students:
Marc Galeazza (Ph.D. 1994,
Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).
Rachel Groth (Ph.D. 2006, Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).
David Linden (Ph.D. 1999,
Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).
Ann Parsons (Ph.D. 1996,
Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).
Cheryl Stucky (Ph.D. 1995,
Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).
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