Calcium imaging for analgesic drug discovery

• Published in: Neurobiology of pain Vol. 11; p. 100083
• Main Authors: Iseppon, Federico, Linley, John E., Wood, John N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.01.2022; Elsevier
• Subjects: Analgesic drug discovery; Calcium imaging; In Vivo experiments; Pain research; Preclinical research; Review; Calcium imaging; Preclinical research; Pain research; Analgesic drug discovery; In Vivo experiments
• ISSN: 2452-073X; 2452-073X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ynpai.2021.100083

•Calcium imaging is an efficient way to dissect the activity of neurons in vivo.•GCaMP indicators can be expressed in specific cell populations for in vivo imaging.•Pain research have benefitted greatly from these features in the recent decade.•Preclinical research is shifting towards the analysis of pain models and mechanisms.•In vivo calcium imaging is the ideal tool for an efficient drug discovery paradigm. Somatosensation and pain are complex phenomena involving a rangeofspecialised cell types forming different circuits within the peripheral and central nervous systems. In recent decades, advances in the investigation of these networks, as well as their function in sensation, resulted from the constant evolution of electrophysiology and imaging techniques to allow the observation of cellular activity at the population level both in vitro and in vivo. Genetically encoded indicators of neuronal activity, combined with recent advances in DNA engineering and modern microscopy, offer powerful tools to dissect and visualise the activity of specific neuronal subpopulations with high spatial and temporal resolution. In recent years various groups developed in vivo imaging techniques to image calcium transients in the dorsal root ganglia, the spinal cord and the brain of anesthetised and awake, behaving animals to address fundamental questions in both the physiology and pathophysiology of somatosensation and pain. This approach, besides giving unprecedented details on the circuitry of innocuous and painful sensation, can be a very powerful tool for pharmacological research, from the characterisation of new potential drugs to the discovery of new, druggable targets within specific neuronal subpopulations. Here we summarise recent developments in calcium imaging for pain research, discuss technical challenges and advances, and examine the potential positive impact of this technique in early preclinical phases of the analgesic drug discovery process.