Scientists have discovered a pain-sensing gene that can lead to development of new ways to relieve pain.
International team of researchers co-led by the University of Cambridge used detailed genome mapping, to analyse the genetic make-up of 11 families across Europe and Asia affected by an inherited condition known as congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP).
This enabled them to pinpoint the cause of the condition to variants of the gene PRDM12. Family members affected by CIP carried two copies of the variant; however, if they had only inherited one copy from their parents, they were unaffected.
The researchers showed that all genetic variants of PRDM12 in the CIP patients blocked the gene's function. As chromatin is particularly important during formation of particular specialised cell types such as neurons, this provides a possible explanation for why pain-sensing neurons do not form properly in the CIP patients.
PRDM12 is only the fifth gene related to lack of pain perception to have been identified to date. However, two of the previously-discovered genes have already led to the development of new pain killers that are currently been tested in clinical trials.
Dr Ya-Chun Chen, the study's first author added that they were very hopeful that this new gene could be an excellent candidate for drug development, particularly given recent successes with drugs targeting chromatin regulators in human disease.
The findings are reported in the journal Nature Genetics.