Figure 5.

Schematic model of CCI in inducing the activation of microglia and NP. (a) Rats suffered from mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia after the CCI operation, along with the overexpression of P2Y6 receptors in spinal microglia, which involved in the activation of microglia by prompting the release of IL-6. Accordingly, IL-6 could induce the activation of JAK/STAT signaling in microglia. (b) Activation of P2Y6 resulted in boosted secretion of IL-6, which in turn activated the JAK/STAT pathway, further activating the microglia in secreting more IL-6. It finally formed a positive-feedback loop.