Scholars@Duke
Xin Zhang

Xin Zhang

Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology
Anesthesiology
xin.zhang3@duke.edu
822 Cosgrove Ave, Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Selected Publications

Engineered circular guide RNAs enhance miniature CRISPR/Cas12f-based gene activation and adenine base editing.

Journal Article Nat Commun · March 28, 2025 CRISPR system has been widely used due to its precision and versatility in gene editing. Un1Cas12f1 from uncultured archaeon (hereafter referred to as Cas12f), known for its compact size (529 aa), exhibits obvious delivery advantage for gene editing in vit ... Full text Link to item Cite

The comparative impact of central vs. peripheral VA-ECMO cannulation on postoperative graft dysfunction in lung transplantation: a retrospective analysis.

Journal Article Front Cardiovasc Med · 2025 BACKGROUND: Lung transplantation (LTx) is the definitive treatment for end-stage pulmonary diseases, with venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) used as a common perioperative support. However, it remains unclear if central (cVA-ECMO) o ... Full text Link to item Cite

miR-374 family is a key regulator of chronic primary pain onset.

Journal Article Pain Rep · December 2024 INTRODUCTION: Chronic primary pain conditions (CPPCs) are linked to catecholamine activation of peripheral adrenergic receptors. Yet, catecholamine-dependent epigenetic mechanisms, such as microRNA (miRNA) regulation of mRNA transcripts, remain largely unk ... Full text Link to item Cite

Elevated vesicular Zn2+ in dorsal root ganglion neurons expressing the transporter TMEM163 causes age-associated itchy skin in mice.

Journal Article PLoS Biol · November 2024 The prevalent itching condition associated with aging, historically referred to as senile pruritus, diminishes quality of life. Despite its impact, effective treatments remain elusive, largely due to an incomplete understanding of its pathological cause. I ... Full text Link to item Cite

Identifying risk factors for hypoxemia during emergence from anesthesia in patients undergoing robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.

Journal Article J Robot Surg · May 7, 2024 Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP) has emerged as an effective treatment for prostate cancer with obvious advantages. This study aims to identify risk factors related to hypoxemia during the emergence from anesthesia in patients under ... Full text Link to item Cite

CXCR7 promotes pulmonary vascular remodeling via targeting p38/MMP2 pathway in pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Journal Article J Thorac Dis · April 30, 2024 BACKGROUND: A hallmark feature of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is the excessive proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) in the pulmonary arteries. The exact role of C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12)/chemokine receptor ... Full text Link to item Cite

A mouse model of chronic primary pain that integrates clinically relevant genetic vulnerability, stress, and minor injury.

Journal Article Sci Transl Med · April 10, 2024 Chronic primary pain conditions (CPPCs) affect over 100 million Americans, predominantly women. They remain ineffectively treated, in large part because of a lack of valid animal models with translational relevance. Here, we characterized a CPPC mouse mode ... Full text Link to item Cite

Comparison of DNA targeting CRISPR editors in human cells

Journal Article Cell and Bioscience · December 1, 2023 Background: Profiling and comparing the performance of current widely used DNA targeting CRISPR systems provide the basic information for the gene-editing toolkit and can be a useful resource for this field. In the current study, we made a parallel compari ... Full text Cite

Molecular mechanisms controlling vertebrate retinal patterning, neurogenesis, and cell fate specification.

Journal Article Trends in genetics : TIG · October 2023 This review covers recent advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms controlling neurogenesis and specification of the developing retina, with a focus on insights obtained from comparative single cell multiomic analysis. We discuss recent advances ... Full text Cite

Transforming Growth Factor-β-Activated Kinase 1 (TAK1) Mediates Chronic Pain and Cytokine Production in Mouse Models of Inflammatory, Neuropathic, and Primary Pain.

Journal Article The journal of pain · September 2023 The origin of chronic pain is linked to inflammation, characterized by increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines in local tissues and systemic circulation. Transforming growth factor beta-activated kinase 1 (TAK1) is a key regulator of proinflammatory ... Full text Open Access Cite

Engineered circular guide RNAs boost CRISPR/Cas12a- and CRISPR/Cas13d-based DNA and RNA editing.

Journal Article Genome Biol · June 23, 2023 BACKGROUND: The CRISPR/Cas12a and CRISPR/Cas13d systems are widely used for fundamental research and hold great potential for future clinical applications. However, the short half-life of guide RNAs (gRNAs), particularly free gRNAs without Cas nuclease bin ... Full text Link to item Cite

Phase-separated DropCRISPRa platform for efficient gene activation in mammalian cells and mice.

Journal Article Nucleic Acids Res · June 9, 2023 Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) plays a critical role in regulating gene transcription via the formation of transcriptional condensates. However, LLPS has not been reported to be engineered as a tool to activate endogenous gene expression in mammalia ... Full text Link to item Cite

SLC35E1 promotes keratinocyte proliferation in psoriasis by regulating zinc homeostasis.

Journal Article Cell death & disease · June 2023 Keratinocyte hyperproliferation is a key pathogenic factor in psoriasis. However, the mechanisms that regulate keratinocyte hyperproliferation in this condition remain unclear. Here, we found that SLC35E1 was highly expressed in keratinocytes of patients w ... Full text Cite

Targeted photodynamic neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 mediated by singlet oxygen.

Journal Article Photochemical & photobiological sciences : Official journal of the European Photochemistry Association and the European Society for Photobiology · June 2023 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus has been on a rampage for more than two years. Vaccines in combination with neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) against SARS-CoV-2 carry great hope in the treatment and final elimination of coro ... Full text Cite

Interfacial water molecules contribute to antibody binding to the receptor-binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.

Journal Article Journal of biomolecular structure & dynamics · January 2023 Antibodies that recognize the spike protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), especially the neutralizing antibodies, carry great hope in the treatment and final elimination of COVID-19. Driven by a synchronized global effort ... Full text Cite

Current status and training needs of trainee anesthesiologists in lung transplantation anesthesia in China: A single-center survey.

Journal Article Heliyon · December 2022 BACKGROUND: Perioperative management involving anesthesiologists plays an important role in prognosis of recipients after lung transplantation. Since the development of lung transplantation, the demand for specialized anesthesiologists continues to increas ... Full text Link to item Cite

Chondroitin sulfate enhances the barrier function of basement membrane assembled by heparan sulfate.

Journal Article Development · June 15, 2022 Glycosaminoglycans are ubiquitously expressed polysaccharides that are attached to proteoglycans. Here, we showed that ablation of the heparan sulfate (HS) polymerase Ext1 in retinal progenitor cells did not affect initial progression of retinal angiogenes ... Full text Link to item Cite

Expression of ectopic heat shock protein 90 in male and female primary afferent nociceptors regulates inflammatory pain.

Journal Article Pain · June 1, 2022 Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is a ubiquitously expressed integral cellular protein essential for regulating proteomic stress. Previous research has shown that Hsp90 regulates critical signaling pathways underlying chronic pain and inflammation. Recent dis ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Engineered Cas12a-Plus nuclease enables gene editing with enhanced activity and specificity.

Journal Article BMC Biol · April 25, 2022 BACKGROUND: The CRISPR-Cas12a (formerly Cpf1) system is a versatile gene-editing tool with properties distinct from the broadly used Cas9 system. Features such as recognition of T-rich protospacer-adjacent motif (PAM) and generation of sticky breaks, as we ... Full text Link to item Cite

Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction and Alzheimer's Disease: A Transcriptome-Based Comparison of Animal Models.

Journal Article Front Aging Neurosci · 2022 BACKGROUND: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a common complication characterized by a significant cognitive decline. Increasing evidence suggests an association between the pathogenesis of POCD and Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, a comprehe ... Full text Link to item Cite

Acacetin alleviates neuroinflammation and oxidative stress injury via the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway in a mouse model of spinal cord injury

Journal Article Translational Neuroscience · January 1, 2022 Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a severe central nervous system disease, which may cause serious locomotor deficit. Acacetin is a flavone that possesses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in different human diseases. The main purpose of this study was t ... Full text Cite

Low-dose naloxone for prophylaxis of sufentanil-induced choking and postoperative nausea and vomiting.

Journal Article Front Pharmacol · 2022 Sufentanil, a potent opioid, serves as the first option for perioperative analgesia owing to its analgesic effect, long duration and stable hemodynamics, whereas its side effects frequently blunt its application. The intravenous (IV) injection of sufentani ... Full text Link to item Cite

Jack of all trades, master of each: the diversity of fibroblast growth factor signalling in eye development.

Journal Article Open Biol · January 2022 A central question in development biology is how a limited set of signalling pathways can instruct unlimited diversity of multicellular organisms. In this review, we use three ocular tissues as models of increasing complexity to present the astounding vers ... Full text Link to item Cite

Phase transition specified by a binary code patterns the vertebrate eye cup.

Journal Article Sci Adv · November 12, 2021 The developing vertebrate eye cup is partitioned into the neural retina (NR), the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE), and the ciliary margin (CM). By single-cell analysis, we showed that fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling regulates the CM in its stem ... Full text Link to item Cite

Lacrimal gland budding requires PI3K-dependent suppression of EGF signaling.

Journal Article Science advances · June 2021 The patterning of epithelial buds is determined by the underlying signaling network. Here, we study the cross-talk between phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and Ras signaling during lacrimal gland budding morphogenesis. Our results show that PI3K is activat ... Full text Cite

MiniCAFE, a CRISPR/Cas9-based compact and potent transcriptional activator, elicits gene expression in vivo.

Journal Article Nucleic acids research · April 2021 CRISPR-mediated gene activation (CRISPRa) is a promising therapeutic gene editing strategy without inducing DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). However, in vivo implementation of these CRISPRa systems remains a challenge. Here, we report a compact and robust ... Full text Cite

Etv transcription factors functionally diverge from their upstream FGF signaling in lens development.

Journal Article Elife · February 11, 2020 The signal regulated transcription factors (SRTFs) control the ultimate transcriptional output of signaling pathways. Here, we examined a family of FGF-induced SRTFs - Etv1, Etv 4, and Etv 5 - in murine lens development. Contrary to FGF receptor mutants th ... Full text Link to item Cite

Low catechol-O-methyltransferase and stress potentiate functional pain and depressive behavior, especially in female mice.

Journal Article Pain · February 2020 Low levels of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), an enzyme that metabolizes catecholamines, and stress, which potentiates catecholamine release from sympathetic nerves, are fundamental to chronic functional pain syndromes and comorbid depression, which p ... Full text Cite

Ultrasonography-Guided Radiofrequency Ablation for Painful Stump Neuromas to Relieve Postamputation Pain: A Pilot Study.

Journal Article J Pain Res · 2020 OBJECTIVE: Postamputation pain (PAP) is a serious problem, and thus far, there is no perfect treatment strategy. Clinically, minimally invasive treatments for peripheral neuromas are simple and feasible. This study aimed to investigate the immediate and lo ... Full text Link to item Cite

Correction to: Gene activation in human cells using CRISPR/Cpf1-p300 and CRISPR/Cpf1-SunTag systems.

Journal Article Protein & cell · October 2019 In the original publication the Supplementary Material and Fig. 2 are incorrect. The correct version is provided in this correction article. The text HBG2 appearing in the article should be read as HBG1. ... Full text Cite

Lens differentiation is controlled by the balance between PDGF and FGF signaling.

Journal Article PLoS Biol · February 2019 How multiple receptor tyrosine kinases coordinate cell fate determination is yet to be elucidated. We show here that the receptor for platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) signaling recruits the p85 subunit of Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) to regulate m ... Full text Link to item Cite

The effectiveness of ultrasound-guided cervical transforaminal epidural steroid injections in cervical radiculopathy: a prospective pilot study.

Journal Article J Pain Res · 2019 BACKGROUND: Cervical transforaminal epidural steroid injection (CTFESI) is used to provide pain relief and restore function in patients with cervical radiculopathy. Traditionally, it is performed under the guidance of fluoroscopy or computed tomography. He ... Full text Link to item Cite

3D Modeling of Esophageal Development using Human PSC-Derived Basal Progenitors Reveals a Critical Role for Notch Signaling.

Journal Article Cell Stem Cell · October 4, 2018 Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) could provide a powerful system to model development of the human esophagus, whose distinct tissue organization compared to rodent esophagus suggests that developmental mechanisms may not be conserved between species. We there ... Full text Link to item Cite

FGF-induced Pea3 transcription factors program the genetic landscape for cell fate determination.

Journal Article PLoS genetics · September 2018 FGF signaling is a potent inducer of lacrimal gland development in the eye, capable of transforming the corneal epithelium into glandular tissues. Here, we show that genetic ablation of the Pea3 family of transcription factors not only disrupted the ductal ... Full text Cite

miRNA-711 Binds and Activates TRPA1 Extracellularly to Evoke Acute and Chronic Pruritus.

Journal Article Neuron · August 8, 2018 Increasing evidence suggests that extracellular miRNAs may serve as biomarkers of diseases, but the physiological relevance of extracellular miRNA is unclear. We find that intradermal cheek injection of miR-711 induces TRPA1-depedent itch (scratching) with ... Full text Link to item Cite

Crk proteins transduce FGF signaling to promote lens fiber cell elongation.

Journal Article Elife · January 23, 2018 Specific cell shapes are fundamental to the organization and function of multicellular organisms. Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) signaling induces the elongation of lens fiber cells during vertebrate lens development. Nonetheless, exactly how this extracel ... Full text Link to item Cite

Lacrimal gland development: From signaling interactions to regenerative medicine.

Journal Article Dev Dyn · December 2017 The lacrimal gland plays a pivotal role in keeping the ocular surface lubricated, and protecting it from environmental exposure and insult. Dysfunction of the lacrimal gland results in deficiency of the aqueous component of the tear film, which can cause d ... Full text Link to item Cite

Preoperative Serum Metabolites Are Associated With Postoperative Delirium in Elderly Hip-Fracture Patients.

Journal Article J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci · November 9, 2017 BACKGROUND: Hypotheses on the development of postoperative delirium (PD) include "neuroinflammatory," "neuronal aging," "oxidative stress," "neurotransmitter deficiency," and "neuroendocrine." Here, we employed metabolomics to determine the serum metabolit ... Full text Link to item Cite

Alx4 relays sequential FGF signaling to induce lacrimal gland morphogenesis.

Journal Article PLoS genetics · October 2017 The sequential use of signaling pathways is essential for the guidance of pluripotent progenitors into diverse cell fates. Here, we show that Shp2 exclusively mediates FGF but not PDGF signaling in the neural crest to control lacrimal gland development. In ... Full text Cite

Signaling and Gene Regulatory Networks in Mammalian Lens Development.

Journal Article Trends Genet · October 2017 Ocular lens development represents an advantageous system in which to study regulatory mechanisms governing cell fate decisions, extracellular signaling, cell and tissue organization, and the underlying gene regulatory networks. Spatiotemporally regulated ... Full text Link to item Cite

Ultrasound-guided alcohol neurolysis and radiofrequency ablation of painful stump neuroma: Effective treatments for post-amputation pain

Journal Article Journal of Pain Research · February 3, 2017 Background: Post-amputation pain (PAP) is highly prevalent after limb amputation, and stump neuromas play a key role in the generation of the pain. Presently, PAP refractory to medical management is frequently treated with minimally invasive procedures gui ... Full text Cite

Construction of a rat tibial neuroma transposition model and changes of neurotrophin expressions in the nervous system

Journal Article Journal of Shanghai Jiaotong University (Medical Science) · January 28, 2017 Objective: To construct a rat tibial neuroma transposition (TNT) model, observe changes in expressions of neurotrophins (NTs) family[nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)] in injured nerves, dorsal root ganglions (DRGs), an ... Full text Cite

Retinal Proteoglycans Act as Cellular Receptors for Basement Membrane Assembly to Control Astrocyte Migration and Angiogenesis.

Journal Article Cell Rep · November 8, 2016 The basement membrane is crucial for cell polarity, adhesion, and motility, but how it is assembled on the cell surface remains unclear. Here, we find that ablation of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) side chains of proteoglycans in the neuroretina disrupts the ret ... Full text Link to item Cite

Targeting of Ras-mediated FGF signaling suppresses Pten-deficient skin tumor.

Journal Article Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · November 2016 Deficiency in PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10) is the underlying cause of PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome and a wide variety of human cancers. In skin epidermis, we have previously identified an autocrine FGF signaling induced b ... Full text Cite

Production of inflammatory cytokines, cortisol, and Aβ1-40 in elderly oral cancer patients with postoperative delirium

Journal Article Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment · October 27, 2016 Aim: Pathophysiological disorders after surgery might be related to postoperative delirium (POD). This study was designed to elucidate the pathogenesis of POD in elderly oral cancer patients by determining the perioperative kinetics of inflammatory cytokin ... Full text Cite

CXCL13/CXCR5 enhances sodium channel Nav1.8 current density via p38 MAP kinase in primary sensory neurons following inflammatory pain.

Journal Article Sci Rep · October 6, 2016 CXCL13 is a B lymphocyte chemoattractant and activates CXCR5 receptor in the immune system. Here we investigated whether CXCL13/CXCR5 mediates inflammatory pain in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and the underlying mechanisms. Peripheral injection of complete Fr ... Full text Link to item Cite

Anti-nociceptive roles of the glia-specific metabolic inhibitor fluorocitrate in paclitaxel-evoked neuropathic pain.

Journal Article Acta Biochim Biophys Sin (Shanghai) · October 2016 Paclitaxel (Taxol) is a powerful chemotherapy drug used in breast cancers, but it often causes neuropathic pain, leading to the early cessation of therapy and poor treatment outcomes. Approaches for the management of paclitaxel-induced neuropathic pain are ... Full text Link to item Cite

Mechanisms of FGF gradient formation during embryogenesis.

Journal Article Seminars in cell & developmental biology · May 2016 Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) have long been attributed to influence morphogenesis in embryonic development. Signaling by FGF morphogen encodes positional identity of tissues by creating a concentration gradient over the developing embryo. Various mecha ... Full text Cite

Minocycline can delay the development of morphine tolerance, but cannot reverse existing tolerance in the maintenance period of neuropathic pain in rats.

Journal Article Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol · January 2015 Neuropathic pain is a challenge for physicians and basic science researchers, because it often does not respond to routine treatment. The administration of morphine has been considered one of the effective recommended treatments, but its wide application i ... Full text Link to item Cite

Development of astrocytes in the vertebrate eye.

Journal Article Dev Dyn · December 2014 Astrocytes represent the earliest glial population in the embryonic optic nerve, contributing critically to retinal angiogenesis and formation of brain-retinal-barrier. Despite of many developmental and clinical implications of astrocytes, answers to some ... Full text Link to item Cite

Aberrant activation of p53 due to loss of MDM2 or MDMX causes early lens dysmorphogenesis.

Journal Article Developmental biology · December 2014 Although forming a heterodimer or heterooligomer is essential for MDM2 and MDMX to fully control p53 during early embryogenesis, deletion of either MDM2 or MDMX in specific tissues using the loxp-Cre system reveals phenotypic diversity during organ morphog ... Full text Cite

Circulating microRNA expression profile: a novel potential predictor for chronic nervous lesions.

Journal Article Acta Biochim Biophys Sin (Shanghai) · November 2014 The mechanisms of chronic neuropathic pain are not clear. Serum microRNAs (miRNAs) might show a special feature for chronic nervous lesions. However, little is known about the changes in circulating miRNAs for the neuropathic pain. Therefore, changes in th ... Full text Link to item Cite

Role of heparan sulfate proteoglycans in optic disc and stalk morphogenesis.

Journal Article Dev Dyn · October 2014 BACKGROUND: Heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPG) are important for embryonic development by means of the regulation of gradient formation and signaling of multiple growth factors and morphogens. Previous studies have shown that Bmp/Shh/Fgf signaling are re ... Full text Link to item Cite

Gabapentin enhances the morphine anti-nociceptive effect in neuropathic pain via the interleukin-10-heme oxygenase-1 signalling pathway in rats.

Journal Article J Mol Neurosci · September 2014 In the present study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory mechanisms by which gabapentin enhances morphine anti-nociceptive effect in neuropathic pain in rats and the interaction between the anti-nociceptive effects of gabapentin on morphine and the inte ... Full text Link to item Cite

Optimal interval for hot water immersion tail-flick test in rats.

Journal Article Acta Neuropsychiatr · August 2014 BACKGROUND: The hot water tail-flick test is widely used to measure the degree of nociception experienced by laboratory animals. This study was carried out to optimise interval times for the hot water immersion tail-flick tests in rats. METHOD: Ten differe ... Full text Link to item Cite

NFκB-mediated CXCL1 production in spinal cord astrocytes contributes to the maintenance of bone cancer pain in mice.

Journal Article J Neuroinflammation · March 1, 2014 BACKGROUND: Bone cancer pain (BCP) is one of the most disabling factors in patients suffering from primary bone cancer or bone metastases. Recent studies show several chemokines (for example, CCL2, CXCL10) in the spinal cord are involved in the pathogenesi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Pten loss induces autocrine FGF signaling to promote skin tumorigenesis.

Journal Article Cell reports · March 2014 Inactivation of the Pten tumor suppressor negatively regulates the PI3K-mTOR pathway. In a model of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), we demonstrate that deletion of Pten strongly elevates Fgf10 protein levels without increasing Fgf10 transcription ... Full text Cite

Frs2α and Shp2 signal independently of Gab to mediate FGF signaling in lens development.

Journal Article Journal of cell science · February 2014 Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling requires a plethora of adaptor proteins to elicit downstream responses, but the functional significances of these docking proteins remain controversial. In this study, we used lens development as a model to investig ... Full text Cite

Gabapentin attenuates morphine tolerance through interleukin-10.

Journal Article Neuroreport · January 22, 2014 In this study, we examined the anti-inflammatory mechanism by which gabapentin attenuates morphine tolerance in rats. Gabapentin enhanced the antinociceptive effect of morphine and attenuated chronic morphine tolerance when administered intrathecally with ... Full text Link to item Cite

Positive feedback loop of autocrine BDNF from microglia causes prolonged microglia activation.

Journal Article Cell Physiol Biochem · 2014 BACKGROUND/AIMS: Microglia, which represent the immune cells of the central nervous system (CNS), have long been a subject of study in CNS disease research. Substantial evidence indicates that microglial activation functions as a strong neuro-inflammatory ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effect of metabotropic glutamate 5 receptor antagonists on morphine efficacy and tolerance in rats with neuropathic pain.

Journal Article Eur J Pharmacol · October 15, 2013 The metabotropic glutamate 5 (mGlu5) receptor is involved in both pain processing and modulation of µ-opioid induced antinociception and antihyperalgesia. Systemic mGlu5 receptor antagonists 2-methyl-6-phenylethynylpyridine (MPEP) or 3-[(2-methyl-1,3-thiaz ... Full text Link to item Cite

Minocycline attenuates mechanical allodynia and expression of spinal NMDA receptor 1 subunit in rat neuropathic pain model.

Journal Article J Physiol Biochem · September 2013 Recent studies have indicated that minocycline, a microglia inhibitor, could potentially be used as an antinociceptive agent in pain management, although the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. In this study, we investigated the extent to which minocycli ... Full text Link to item Cite

Repetitive hyperbaric oxygen treatment attenuates complete Freund's adjuvant-induced pain and reduces glia-mediated neuroinflammation in the spinal cord.

Journal Article J Pain · July 2013 UNLABELLED: Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy is reported to attenuate pain in both clinical pain conditions and animal pain models, but the underlying mechanism remains to be investigated. Here, we show that 7 daily 60-minute HBO (100% oxygen, 2 atmosphere ... Full text Link to item Cite

L6 spinal nerve ligation produces prolonged development of mechanical allodynia and gradual increase of GFAP on ipsilateral dorsal horn.

Journal Article Acta Neurochir (Wien) · May 2013 BACKGROUND: L5/6 spinal nerve ligation (SNL), one of the most widely used approaches rat models for neuropathic pain, results in the rapid development of mechanical allodynia within 24-72 h. However, the result of a single L6 SNL remains unclear. METHODS: ... Full text Link to item Cite

Intrathecal PLC(β3) oligodeoxynucleotides antisense potentiates acute morphine efficacy and attenuates chronic morphine tolerance.

Journal Article Brain Res · September 7, 2012 Morphine is a mainstay for chronic pain treatment, but its efficacy has been hampered by physical tolerance. The underlying mechanism for chronic morphine induced tolerance is complicated and not well understood. PLC(β3) is regarded as an important factor ... Full text Link to item Cite

Curcumin inhibits LPS-induced CCL2 expression via JNK pathway in C6 rat astrocytoma cells.

Journal Article Cell Mol Neurobiol · August 2012 The important role of neuroinflammation in many chronic and acute pathological conditions of the central nervous system is widely recognized. Curcumin is a major component of turmeric and reportedly has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects. This stud ... Full text Link to item Cite

Neuregulin1/erbB and neuropathic pain

Journal Article Journal of Shanghai Jiaotong University (Medical Science) · August 1, 2012 Neuropathic pain is a common chronic pain, and has received more attention recently due to its complicated pathogenesis and ineffective treatment. Many studies have found that a number of cytokines and multiple signaling pathways are involved in the pain p ... Full text Cite

Effects of intrathecal injection of exogenous BDNF-activated astrocytes on pain sensation of normal rats

Journal Article Journal of Shanghai Jiaotong University (Medical Science) · July 1, 2012 Objective: To investigate the effects of exogenous brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) on the activation of astrocytes, and analyse the impact of intrathecal injection of activated astrocytes on pain hyperalgia in normal rats. Methods: Primary astrocy ... Full text Cite

The effect of intrathecal administration of glial activation inhibitors on dorsal horn BDNF overexpression and hind paw mechanical allodynia in spinal nerve ligated rats.

Journal Article J Neural Transm (Vienna) · March 2012 Recent studies have suggested that activated glia in the spinal cord may play a vital role at different times during spinal nerve ligation (SNL)-induced neuropathic pain; therefore, glial activation inhibitors have been used as effective painkillers. Brain ... Full text Link to item Cite

Contribution of BDNF/TrkB pathway to development of neuropathic pain by activation of astrocytes in rats

Journal Article Journal of Shanghai Jiaotong University (Medical Science) · January 1, 2012 Objective: To investigate the effects of exogenous brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF) on mechanical pain threshold and astrocytes, and explore the potential mechanism of BDNF-induced pain. Methods: Thirty rats with successful intrathecal catheterizati ... Full text Cite

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor-activated astrocytes produce mechanical allodynia in neuropathic pain.

Journal Article Neuroscience · December 29, 2011 Neuropathic pain management is challenging for physicians and a vexing problem for basic researchers. Recent studies reveal that activated spinal astrocytes may play a vital role in nerve injury-induced neuropathic pain, although the mechanisms are not ful ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effects of BDNF on activation of spinal dorsal horn astrocytes in rats with spinal nerve ligation

Journal Article Journal of Shanghai Jiaotong University (Medical Science) · December 14, 2011 Objective To observe the changes of expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BNDF) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in rats with spinal nerve ligation (SNL), and investigate the effects of TrkB/Fc, BDNF inhibitor on expression of GFAP and ... Full text Cite

Translocation of protein kinase C isoforms is involved in propofol-induced endothelial nitric oxide synthase activation

Journal Article British Journal of Anaesthesia · January 1, 2010 Background. Previous studies have indicated that protein kinase C (PKC) may enhance endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activation, although the detailed mechanism(s) remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the roles of PKC isoforms in regulat ... Full text Cite