Role of MicroRNA in Visceral Pain

The long-lasting nociceptive transmission under various visceral pain conditions involves transcriptional and/or translational alteration in neurotransmitter and receptor expression as well as modification of neuronal function, morphology and synaptic connections. Although it is largely unknown how such changes in posttranscriptional expression induce visceral pain, recent evidence strongly suggests an important role for microRNAs (miRNAs, small non-coding RNAs) in the cellular plasticity underlying chronic visceral pain. MicroRNAs are small noncoding RNA endogenously produced in our body and act as a major regulator of gene expression by either through cleavage or translational repression of the target gene. This regulation is essential for the normal physiological function but when disturbed can result in pathological conditions. Usually one miRNA has multiple targets and target mRNAs are regulated in a combinatorial fashion by multiple miRNAs. In recent years, many studies have been performed to delineate the posttranscriptional regulatory role of miRNAs in different tissues under various nociceptive stimuli. In this review, we intend to discuss the recent development in miRNA research with special emphases on miRNAs and their targets responsible for long term sensitization in chronic pain conditions. In addition, we review miRNAs expression and function data for different animal pain models and also the recent progress in research on miRNA-based therapeutic targets for the treatment of chronic pain.