Nanoparticle drug delivery targets an intracellular source of pain
Sensing and responding to pain is a mechanism, and when exposed to a painful stimulus, our body initiates responses to avoid further damage and initiate appropriate wound healing processes. However, damaged tissue or chronic conditions (e.g. arthritis or diabetic neuropathy) can dysregulate pain pathways, resulting in chronic pain, which is both debilitating and difficult to treat. While opioids remain the most effective treatment, there are many unwanted side-effects including tolerance (analgesic effect diminishes over time) and dependence, which are major contributors to the present, the growing global opioid epidemic. G protein-coupled receptors are cell-surface sensors that play Vital roles in responding to painful stimuli and relaying these pain signals from sensory neurons to the spinal cord and brain. curiously, we and others have previously demonstrated that when GPCRs such as the Neurokinin 1 receptor are stimulated during pain, they undergo endocytosis and relocate to intrac