| Dr. Erin Milligan’s research examines
gene therapy approaches to treat chronic neuropathic pain
through collaborative efforts between the Center for Neuroscience,
the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
and the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering.
A team of undergraduate and graduate students, and post-doctoral
fellows are combining multiple approaches to examine the underlying
mechanisms involved in neuropathic pain, and to develop vectors
for delivering genes aimed to control pathological pain. The
research techniques used in these investigations include in
vivo behavioral assessment in the laboratory rodent with cellular,
molecular and polymer-based engineering techniques to deliver
therapeutic genes. We are currently delivering genes to the
spinal cord that encode anti-inflammatory cytokines to suppress
the production and function of pro-inflammatory cytokines
previously implicated in creating and maintaining diverse
forms of chronic pain. Importantly, this gene delivery approach
shows promise for the treatment of clinical pain, as it is
currently being further developed for long-duration pain control.
Ongoing studies are examining 1) mechanisms by which these
gene therapy approaches lead to long-lasting pain control,
2) improvement of gene expression with the goal to increase
the duration and magnitude of the therapeutic window, and
3) synthetic FDA-approved polymers encapsulating therapeutic
genes that may enhance gene expression and therapeutic effects.
Selected Publications:
Milligan, E.D., Watkins, L.R., & Maier, S.F., Glial proinflammatory
cytokines mediate exaggerated pain states: implications for
clinical pain, Seminars in Pain Medicine, 1(3)(2003) 1-13.
Milligan, E.D., Twining, C., Chacur, M., Biedenkap, J., O’Connor,
K., Poole, S., Tracey, K., Martin, D., Maier, S.F. & Watkins,
L.R., Spinal glia and proinflammatory cytokines mediate mirror-image
neuropathic pain, J. Neurosci. 23 (2003) 1026-1040.
Milligan, E.D., Zapata, V., Chacur, M., Schoeniger, D., Biedenkapp,
J., O’Connor, K., Verge, G.M., Chapman, G., Green, P.,
Foster, A.C., Naeve, G.S., Maier, S.F. & Watkins, L.R.,
Evidence that exogenous and endogenous fractalkine can induce
spinal nociceptive facilitation, European Journal of Neuroscience
20 (2004) 2294-2302.
Milligan, E.D., Langer, S.J., Sloan, E.,M He, L., Wieseler-Frank,
J., K. O’Connor, D. Martin, Forsayeth, J.R., Maier,
S.F., Johnson, K., Chavez, R.A. Leinwand, L.A. & Watkins,
L.R., Controlling pathological pain by adenovirally driven
spinal production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-10,
Eur. J. Neurosci. (2005) 21:2136-48.
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