Ion channels and pain circuits: from ASICs to the Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Prof Séguéla (McGill University and Neurasic Therapeutics) will present a first in class selective blocker of ASICs (acid sending ion channels) as a novel non invasive therapeutic option for the treatment of acute, postsurgical and inflammatory pain Knowing that « no brain, no pain », he will also show recent results on the major role of dopamine signaling in the anterior cingulate cortex (in the perception of pain and analgesia

More about the speaker, Philippe Séguéla, McGill University Montreal

Philippe Séguéla’s group uses a multidisciplinary approach based on transgenic mouse models, optogenetics, chemogenetics calcium imaging, electrophysiology as well as behavioural assays to elucidate the role of major ion channels/pain transducers (ex ATP gated P 2 X receptors, proton gated ASICs, TRP channels) in somatosensory circuits The Séguéla laboratory is investigating the functional organization of genetically identified neuronal networks mediating pain from peripheral afferents in sensory ganglia to the prefrontal cortex His goal is to understand their contribution to pathological inflammatory and neuropathic states, in search of novel analgesic strategies