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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new way to relieve pain may soon be on the horizon.
Working with colleagues in Finland, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have discovered a protein that effectively suppresses pain eight times better than morphine.
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The investigators uncovered the pain relieving effects of the protein, called prostatic acid phosphates (PAP), after realizing it is identical to another protein known to be involved in labeling pain-sensing neurons. They tested the protein in mice that were genetically engineered to be lacking PAP. When they injected the mice with PAP, pain was significantly diminished.
We were really blown away that a simple injection could have such a potent effect on pain, study author Mark J. Zylka, Ph.D., was quoted as saying. Not only that, but it appeared to work much better than the commonly used drug morphine.
How does PAP work? The investigators dug deeper into the protein, finding it gets the job done by removing the phosphate group from a chemical called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is released when pain-sensing neurons are stimulated and it sparks a painful sensation. However, when phosphate is removed, ATP degrades to another substance called adenosine, which in turn inhibits the ability of neurons to transmit pain signals.
It is entirely possible that PAP itself could be used as a treatment for pain, through an injection just like morphine, notes Dr. Zylka. But we would like to modify it to be taken in pill form.
SOURCE: Neuron, published online October 8, 2008
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