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The research for the Science article, “Voltage-gated sodium channel in grasshopper mice defends against bark scorpion toxin,” began after lead author Ashlee Rowe, assistant professor of neuroscience and zoology at Michigan State University, discovered that grasshopper mice, which are native to the southwestern U.S., generally are resistant to bark scorpion venom. The Cummins Lab has been studying the role of sodium channels in pain mechanisms for more than a decade at IU and has previously shown that genetic mutations that cause severe chronic pain in humans can substantially alter the activity of the Nav1.7 sodium channels. “This highly unusual evolutionary outcome not only provides a better understanding of the predator-prey relationships and how they are shaped over millions of years in niche environments, but also points the way to several potentially novel approaches to the development of new analgesics,” said Gerry Oxford, executive director of the Stark Neurosciences Research Institute at the IU School of Medicine. “In grasshopper mice, the toxin is turned from pain to gain by not just reducing sensitivity, but by actually turning it into an effective analgesic.” We now know that Nav1.8 can be effectively targeted with profound consequences,” said Ted Cummins, co-author of the study and professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the IU School of Medicine. “The study really shows that although alterations in Nav1.7 can trigger intense pain, blocking Nav1.7 is not necessary to block the pain. The pathbreaking findings reported in the prestigious journal Science involve two miniscule sodium channels (Nav1.7 and Nav.1.8) in pain-sensing neurons found throughout the peripheral nervous system of mice - and humans - and the potential for new directions in analgesic research.
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INDIANAPOLIS - Grasshopper mice are cute, amazing little critters, but the big news involving them recently isn’t so much about them, or the normally painful venom of Arizona bark scorpions, which the mice readily eat despite the scorpion’s debilitating and deadly sting.