Uncovered the source of diabetic pain
Christoforos Tsantoulas is a research associate at the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases at King’s College London. He led the team of researchers from King’s College London that have identified a single protein molecule that may be responsible for chronic nerve pain in diabetes. The findings could one day lead to treatments which target the source of the pain.
Diabetic pain is very difficult to treat and the molecular causes are poorly understood. This new King’s College London study provides the first evidence that a single protein molecule – HCN2 – can by itself be responsible for a complex sensation such as diabetic pain.
The researchers used mouse models of diabetes to show that over-activity of HCN2, which initiates electrical signals in pain-sensitive nerve fibres, results in a sensation of pain. They also found that blocking the activity of HCN2, or removing it completely from pain-sensitive nerve fibres, stopped the sensation of pain entirely.
‘At present we do not have selective drugs which can suppress the activity of HCN2 without affecting other bodily functions, such as the regulation of heart rate. This research provides a stimulus for the development of targeted pain drugs that can block HCN2 without affecting the activity of other molecules’ the Greek researcher explained.
Dina Toulaki
-10/05/2018 10:42 pm
Τά θερμά μου συγχαρητήρια στόν Δρ. Χριστόφορο Τσαντούλα γιά τήν επιτυχή έρευνά του, η οποία θά βοηθήσει πολλούς ασθενείς καί θά καλυτερεύσει τήν καθημερινότητά τους. Τού εύχομαι νά είναι υγιής καί η ζωή νά τόν ανταμοίβει μέ πρωτιές καί νά έχει προσωπική καί επαγγελματική επιτυχία πάντα. Ευχές πολλές γιά ευόδωση όλων τών προσδοκιών καί ονείρων του.
Χριστόφορος Τσαντούλας
-11/05/2018 3:51 pm
Σας ευχαριστώ θερμά για τα καλά σας λόγια κυρία Τουλάκη, κάνουμε το κατά δύναμιν και ο καθένας μας βάζει ένα λιθαράκι από το εκάστοτε πόστο!
Giannis
-06/11/2019 2:07 am
Christofore, I just saw this here and also read some of the original research of yours. Good stuff. I am prompted to reply here since your concluding paragraph right above is aligned with our thinking: We have identified a compound that disrupts HCN2 gating & trafficking with the selectivity sought. We do not do pain studies though, rather epilepsy and depression models. If interested, we could talk about how you guys could use the compound in your model and systems, to corroborate the bigger picture. Let me know if interested.
Dina Toulaki
-10/05/2018 10:54 pm
Συγχαρητήρια σέ ΟΛΟΥΣ τούς Έλληνες επιστήμονες που δίνουν τίς μάχες τους καί τόν καλύτερο εαυτό τους γιά νά δώσουν λύσεις στά ερωτήματα που τούς απασχολούν καί νά κάνουν τίς ζωές ημών τών υπολοίπων καλύτερες. Ευχαριστώ πολύ καί τούς εύχομαι πάντα επιτυχίες!!!
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