Cell-Based Therapy for Chronic Neuropathic Pain After CNS Injury

Hemisection spinal cord injury (SCI) in preclinical models results in pathological and functional features that mimic the human condition. Chronic pain secondary to neuronal injury is actively and continuously modulated at multiple locations along the sensory neuraxis. Here, we describe how pain-processing neurons of the spinal cord process and communicate nociceptive information in terms of precisely calibrated firing patterns. We then discuss how several cell types, with a focus on 5-HTergic neurons, cause system-wide interference in nociceptive processing through novel signaling schema, thus contributing to sensory network plasticity and chronic pain.