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Updated: Oct 23, 2025

Advanced Glycation End-Products Sensitize Human Sensory-Like Neuron Cells to Capsaicin-Induced Calcium Influx
Published on: May 2, 2025
Depolarization induces nociceptor sensitization by CaV1.2-mediated PKA-II activation
Jörg Isensee1, Marianne van Cann1, Patrick Despang2
1Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Translational Pain Research, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital of Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Abstract:
Depolarization drives neuronal plasticity. However, whether depolarization drives sensitization of peripheral nociceptive neurons remains elusive. By high-content screening (HCS) microscopy, we revealed that depolarization of cultured sensory neurons rapidly activates protein kinase A type II (PKA-II) in nociceptors by calcium influx through CaV1.2 channels. This effect was modulated by calpains but insensitive to inhibitors of cAMP formation, including opioids. In turn, PKA-II phosphorylated Ser1928 in the distal C terminus of CaV1.2, thereby increasing channel gating, whereas dephosphorylation of Ser1928 involved the phosphatase calcineurin. Patch-clamp and behavioral experiments confirmed that depolarization leads to calcium- and PKA-dependent sensitization of calcium currents ex vivo and local peripheral hyperalgesia in the skin in vivo. Our data suggest a local activity-driven feed-forward mechanism that selectively translates strong depolarization into further activity and thereby facilitates hypersensitivity of nociceptor terminals by a mechanism inaccessible to opioids.
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