Navigating the Controversies: Role of TRPM Channels in Pain States

Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Sep 24;25(19):10284. doi: 10.3390/ijms251910284.

Abstract

Chronic pain is a debilitating condition that affects up to 1.5 billion people worldwide and bears a tremendous socioeconomic burden. The success of pain medicine relies on our understanding of the type of pain experienced by patients and the mechanisms that give rise to it. Ion channels are among the key targets for pharmacological intervention in chronic pain conditions. Therefore, it is important to understand how changes in channel properties, trafficking, and molecular interactions contribute to pain sensation. In this review, we discuss studies that have demonstrated the involvement of transient receptor potential M2, M3, and M8 channels in pain generation and transduction, as well as the controversies surrounding these findings.

Keywords: G-protein coupled receptors; TRPM2; TRPM3; TRPM8; analgesia; nociception.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chronic Pain / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Pain / metabolism
  • Pain / physiopathology
  • TRPM Cation Channels* / metabolism

Substances

  • TRPM Cation Channels

Grants and funding

G.W.Z. is supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and holds a Canada Research Chair.