Led by Christine Hale, who recently earned her PhD studying in the Ganter lab as part of the University of Maine’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering program, the group showed that pain sensitivity is influenced by the Wnt/Wingless pathway component Armadillo. When Hale and colleagues increased the level of Armadillo (the Drosophila homolog of b-catenin) specifically in the nociceptor, behavioral nociceptive sensitivity was significantly increased. When b-catenin/Armadillo level was reduced specifically in the nociceptor, behavioral nociceptive sensitivity was significantly reduced. Since b-catenin/Armadillo is known to have at least two distinct cellular roles including transcriptional control and cell adhesion, future work seeks to determine the details of its possible transcriptional mechanism, and implicate any potential cell adhesion partners, such as epidermal cells, that may play a role in determining nociceptive sensitivity. The goal of the laboratory is to identify regulators of nociceptive sensitivity that may represent targets for novel pain medications.
Dr. Hale was assisted by co-authors Julie Moulton (UNE MS’20) and Yvonne Otis (UNE BS’21). The group is currently funded by NIH/NINDS awards 1R03NS126842 and 2R15NS095195 to G. Ganter.
Here is the paper’s citation:
Armadillo regulates nociceptive sensitivity in the absence of injury. Hale C, Moulton J, Otis Y, Ganter G. Mol Pain. 2022 Apr;18:17448069221111155. doi: 10.1177/17448069221111155.PMID: 35712882
Yellow color indicates Armadillo expression in this Drosophila nociceptor. Recent publication from the Ganter Laboratory indicates Armadillo modulates pain sensitivity.