New Video Available: Pain Mechanisms and Treatment

Watch the full presentation now in the Media Center

In Episode 7 of the Exploring Pain series, host Laura Wandner, PhD, sits down with Ted Price, PhD, Director of the Center for Advanced Pain Studies at UT Dallas, to explore how molecular neuroscience is advancing precision pain medicine. Price highlights single-cell transcriptomic and proteomic findings, demonstrating how specific synovial fibroblast subtypes drive joint hypersensitivity in low-inflammation rheumatoid arthritis and how skin biopsy mRNA profiles reveal neuropathic phenotypes. The session offers a clear roadmap for using open-access human multi-omic datasets, refining animal models, and navigating the translational pipeline for novel analgesics.

Key Learnings:

• Cellular Heterogeneity and Pathological Innervation: Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals that specific synovial fibroblast subtypes secrete synaptic adhesion molecules that drive aberrant nociceptor sprouting and mechanical allodynia in rheumatoid arthritis, even without active inflammation. Watch to see how this redefines local joint pain targets.

• Axon-Transported mRNA as Cutaneous Biomarkers: Transcriptomic profiling of routine skin biopsies captures axonal mRNA to noninvasively assess nociceptor vulnerability, degeneration, and local neuroimmune crosstalk in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. Stream the episode to learn how this informs patient phenotyping.

• Human-Centric Target Validation: Open-access multi-omic atlases like SPARK and SensoryOmics allow direct validation of drug targets in human DRG and spinal cord tissue. Access the full presentation to explore how this data bypasses cross-species translational barriers and accelerates new analgesic development.