Researchers of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine
(MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, have gained crucial insight into how
mechanosensitivity arises. By measuring electrical impulses in
the sensory neurons of mice, the neurobiologists and pain
researchers Dr. Stefan G. Lechner and Professor Gary Lewin were
able to directly elucidate, for the first time, the emergence of
mechanosensitivity. At the same time they were able to show that
neurons develop their sensitivity to touch and pain during
different developmental phases but always coincidentally with
the growth of the neuronal pathways. (EMBO Journal, 2009,
doi:10.1038/emboj.2009.73). The sensory neurons, which are
sensitive to touch and pain, are located in the dorsal root
ganglia between the intervertebral discs. The neurons receive
the stimulus and convert it into electrical signals that are
conveyed to the brain. Signal transduction has been investigated
very thoroughly, which has led to the development of drugs that
block the transduction of pain s