Facial Pain Comes to Light

Neurons that glow under the microscope offer insight into safer pain relief

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In Brief:

• Using an imaging technique to visualize pain signals in facial nerves, NIDCR researchers identified a protein that enhances neurons’ responses to painful stimuli.
• Blocking the protein in mice blunted pain signaling; the results could inform the development of safer, non-opioid pain therapies.

From a throbbing tooth or aching jaw to a pounding migraine, pain in the oral and facial region—known as orofacial pain—afflicts 5 to 12 percent of the population. Such pain can hinder daily activities like eating, tooth-brushing, and mask-wearing, yet opioid-based pain relievers carry the risk of misuse. Understanding how facial nerves process pain signals could help scientists find safer and more effective pain interventions.

NIDCR researchers recently caught facial nerves on camera responding in real-time to pain signals. Their work uncovered a key role for a protein called cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) in pain signaling. The collaboration between scientists in the labs of Ashok Kulkarni, PhD, and Ken Yamada, MD, PhD, showed that blocking Cdk5 blunted the activity of pain-sensing neurons. Kulkarni and Yamada credited their co-mentee, first author, and NIDCR research fellow Minghan Hu, PhD, for bridging the two labs’ distinct expertise for the study. The findings could provide insight into ways to develop safer, non-opioid treatments for orofacial pain.