Targeting TRPA1 Regulation by Heat Shock Proteins for Post-Surgical Pain

Project Summary:

Chronic pain afflicts approximately one in five adult Americans and is particularly common in Wisconsin. Nearly 25% of adults in Wisconsin require pain medication annually, and the most cited reason for pain medication use among Wisconsinites is post-surgical pain. Management of post-surgical pain relies on therapeutics with limited efficacy and treatment limiting side-effects, such as opioids. Post-surgical pain therefore contributes to the ongoing opioid crisis. Indeed, Wisconsin ranks in the top half of states in the nation for opioid-related death rate, and Milwaukee County comprised over one-third of all Wisconsin opioid-related deaths in 2022. Thus, identifying novel therapeutic targets for postsurgical pain will improve patient quality of life and reduce healthcare burdens related to pain and the opioid crisis nationally and here in Wisconsin.

This project will study the effectiveness of targeting upstream regulators of transient receptor potential (TRP) gene family members in reducing post-surgical pain. The project leader will leverage expertise in pain and cell biology to establish a research program studying how cellular stressors are integrated to membrane dysfunction and pain. AHW funding will allow the researcher to identify which heat shock proteins, critical members of cellular stress responses, regulate TRPA1 and contribute to post-surgical pain.