Table 1.
Summary of evidence for functionally important, persistent nociceptor hyperactivity and complementary neural and immune alterations after injury in different taxa
| Phylum (genus or species) | Injury-induced nociceptor hyperactivity? | Survival link? | Required cell signaling in nociceptors | Complementary alterations in other cell types | Selected references |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nematoda (C. elegans) | Not observed | No | Probably none | Unknown | 45, 46 |
| Arthropoda (Drosophila - fly) | Unclear | Unknown | Unclear | Sensitization of central interneurons, central disinhibition | 50–54 |
| Mollusca (Aplysia - snail) | Hyperexcitability, afterdischarge | Unknown but plausible | cAMP, PKA, CREB, ERK, MNK, eIF4E | Sensitization of central interneurons, central disinhibition | 35, 55, 66–74, 106, 109 |
| Mollusca (Doryteuthis – squid) | Hyperexcitability, afterdischarge, spontaneous activity | Direct evidence | Unknown | Unknown | 75, 86, 87 |
| Chordata (Mus or Rattus - laboratory mice or rats) | Hyperexcitability, afterdischarge, spontaneous activity | Indirect evidence | cAMP, PKA, CREB, ERK, MNK, eIF4E | Sensitization of central interneurons, central disinhibition, glial and immune cell activation | 2–5, 11, 12, 17, 25, 26, 52, 77, 78, 81, 82, 88, 93, 100–103, 107, 108, 110–112, 114–118 |
| Chordata (Heterocephalus naked mole rat) | Not observed | No | Probably none | Unknown | 59, 60, 63–65, |
| Chordata (Homo sapiens) | Hyperexcitability, spontaneous activity | Unknown but plausible | Unknown | Probable sensitization of central interneurons, central disinhibition, glial activation, direct evidence for immune cell activation in DRG | 2, 7, 13, 24, 79, 80, 83, 84, 104 |
cAMP, cyclic adenosine monophosphate; CREB, cAMP response element-binding protein; DRG, dorsal root ganglia; eIF4E, eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E; ERK, extracellular-signal-regulated kinase; MNK, mitogen-activated protein kinase-interacting kinase; PKA, protein kinase A.