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George L. Wilcox, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Neuroscience
george@umn.edu
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 Neurotransmission
of Pain
Dr. Wilcox and colleagues are engaged in research into the spinal
neurotransmission of pain and mechanisms underlying hyperalgesia,
analgesia and analgesic tolerance. Studies of both excitatory and
inhibitory neurotransmission in the rodent spinal cord apply behavioral,
electrophysiological (both in vivo and in vitro),immunocytochemical
and molecular techniques. Behavioral experiments define biologically
relevant interactions, which are then examined at the cellular and
molecular level using the more reductionist approaches. A key feature
of research projects in this laboratory is open collaboration with
laboratories located both here and at other universities.
One major thrust of these investigations examines neurotransmitters
thought to mediate major components of excitatory neurotransmission
from primary afferent sensory fibers to secondary projection neurons
in spinal cord dorsal horn: the excitatory amino acids (EAAs) like
glutamate and the neurokinins like substance P. Intense or prolonged
excitatory transmission via both these pathways is thought to evoke
long term synaptic plasticity and excitotoxicity, which may underlie
the development of some chronic pain states.
A second major focus of work in the laboratory is the characterization
of several inhibitory neurotransmitters and their receptors which
together modulate this excitation. The neurotransmitters, enkephalin,
serotonin and noradrenaline, inhibit various components of the incoming
excitatory pain message in the dorsal horn via a number of inhibitory
receptor subtypes. We are characterizing the interactions between
these receptor subtypes and localizing them using transgenic mice,
antisense oligonucleotides and immunocytochemical techniques.
Finally, Dr. Wilcox facilitates access for Neuroscience students to
high performance computing laboratories on campus - The Laboratory
for Computational Science & Engineering and The Minnesota Supercomputer
Institute (MSI). High performance computers and visualization are
now finding applications in biological imaging, macromolecular modeling
and neuronal simulation. A recent neuroscience graduate student developed
a new method to optimize correspondence between neuronal simulations
and experimental structure-function data. |
Selected Publications |
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Vulchanova L., Schuster D.J., Belur L.R., Riedl M.S., Podetz-Pedersen K.M., Kitto K.F., Wilcox G.L., McIvor R.S., Fairbanks C.A. (2010)
Differential adeno-associated virus mediated gene transfer to sensory neurons following intrathecal delivery by direct lumbar puncture.
Mol. Pain 6: 31 |
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El Ghazi I., Sheng W.S., Hu S., Reilly B.G., Lokensgard J.R., Rock R.B., Peterson P.K., Wilcox G.L. and Armitage I.M. (2010)
Changes in the NMR metabolic profile of human microglial cells exposed to lipopolysaccharide or morphine.
J. Neuroimmune Pharmacol. 5(4): 574-81 |
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Overland A.C., Kitto K.F., Chabot-Doré A.J., Rothwell P.E., Fairbanks C.A., Stone L.S. and Wilcox G.L. (2009)
Protein kinase C mediates the synergistic interaction between agonists acting at alpha2-adrenergic and delta-opioid receptors in spinal cord.
J Neurosci. 29(42): 13264-73 |
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Wade C.L., Eskridge L.L., Nguyen H.O., Kitto K.F., Stone L.S., Wilcox G. and Fairbanks C.A. (2009)
Immunoneutralization of agmatine sensitizes mice to micro-opioid receptor tolerance.
J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 331(2): 539-46 |
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Fairbanks C.A., Kitto K.F., Nguyen H.O., Stone L.S. and Wilcox G.L. (2009)
Clonidine and dexmedetomidine produce antinociceptive synergy in mouse spinal cord.
Anesthesiology 110(3): 638-47 |
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Riedl M.S., Schnell S.A., Overland A.C., Chabot-Doré A.J., Taylor A.M., Ribeiro-da-Silva A., Elde R.P., Wilcox G.L. and Stone L.S. (2009)
Coexpression of alpha 2A-adrenergic and delta-opioid receptors in substance P-containing terminals in rat dorsal horn.
J. Comp. Neurol. 513(4): 385-98 |
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Schreiber K.L., Beitz A.J. and Wilcox G.L. (2008)
Activation of spinal microglia in a murine model of peripheral inflammation-induced, long-lasting contralateral allodynia.
Neurosci. Lett. 440(1): 63-67 |
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Vit J.P., Ohara P.T., Tien D.A., Fike J.R., Eikmeier L., Beitz A., Wilcox G.L. and Jasmine, L. (2006)
The analgesic effect of low dose focal irradiation in a mouse model of bone cancer is associated with spinal changes in neuro-mediators of nociception.
Pain 120: 188-201 |
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Wacnik P.W., Eikmeier L.J., Simone D.A., Wilcox G.L. and Beitz, A.J. (2005)
Nociceptive characteristics of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in naïve and tumor-bearing mice.
Neuroscience 132(2): 479-491 |
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Wacnik P.W., Baker C.M., Herron M.J., Blazar B.R., Wilcox G.L., Hordinsky M.K., Beitz A.J. and Ericson M.E. (2005)
Tumor-induced mechanical hyperalgesia involves CGRP receptors and altered innervation and vascularization of DsRed2 fluorescent hindpaw tumors.
Pain 115(1-2): 95-106 |
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Stone L. and Wilcox G.L. (2004)
Alpha-2-adrenergic and opioid receptor additivity in rat locus coeruleus neurons.
Neurosci. Lett. 3 61(1-3): 265-268 |
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Stone L., Vulchanova L., Riedl M.S., Williams F.G., Wilcox G.L. and Elde R. (2004)
Effects of peripheral nerve injury on delta opioid receptor (DOR) immunoreactivity in the rat spinal cord.
Neurosci. Lett. 361(1-3): 208-11 |
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Wacnik P.W., Kehl L.J., Trempe T.M., Ramnaraine M.L. and Wilcox, G.L. (2003)
Tumor implantation in mouse humerus evokes movement-related hyperalgesia exceeding that evoked by intramuscular carrageenan.
Pain 101: 175-186 |
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