{
  "id": 12404099,
  "title": "Promising nonopioid approach for reducing neuropathic pain disrupts a protein interaction",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/promising-nonopioid-approach-for-reducing-neuropathic-pain-disrupts-a",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-06T15:00:09.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Medical Xpress",
    "slug": "medical-xpress",
    "url": "https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-nonopioid-approach-neuropathic-pain-disrupts.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Chronic neuropathic pain remains difficult to understand and treat due to its complexity. Research from Boston Children's Hospital has unveiled a promising nonopioid method for alleviating this type of pain by altering protein interactions within pain-sensing nerve cells. These nerve cells, called nociceptors, transmit pain signals to the brain. The study, led by Clifford Woolf at Boston Children's FM Kirby Neurobiology Center, details a novel approach that has been licensed to Mimetic Medicines for further therapeutic development. Nociceptors employ voltage-gated sodium channels (NaV) to transmit electrical signals, with the NaV 1.8 channel playing a key role in triggering these signals in dorsal root ganglion neurons. Previous attempts to reduce neuropathic pain by inhibiting NaV 1.8 have not translated successfully to clinical settings. The new research reveals that NaV 1.8 activity relies on an interaction with the scaffolding protein ankyrin-G (Ank3) to sustain heightened electrical activity in pain-triggering neurons. By disrupting this interaction using a short lipidated peptide (SLiP), the study discovered a way to reduce NaV 1.8 levels in the cell membrane, quiet hyperexcitable pain-triggering neurons, and alleviate pain-like behaviors in mice without affecting acute protective pain. Woolf emphasized that this discovery not only reshapes our understanding of clinical pain mechanisms but also highlights the potential of short lipidated peptides (SLiPs) as effective pain treatments. Mimetic Medicines, a Boston-based biotech company, has taken the research further by developing investigational long-acting SLiP candidates to target the NaV 1.8-Ank3 interaction systemically. The ultimate goal is to create a nonopioid treatment specifically for chronic neuropathic pain, selectively suppressing pathological pain signaling while preserving normal sensory function.",
  "summary": "Understanding and treating chronic neuropathic pain has remained challenging due to its complex nature. New research from the lab of Clifford Woolf, MB, BCh, Ph.D., at Boston Children's Hospital's FM Kirby Neurobiology Center describes a novel approach for reducing pain by disrupting interactions within pain-sensing nerve cells called nociceptors.",
  "key_points": [
    "Nonopioid method reduces neuropathic pain by altering protein interactions",
    "Disrupts NaV 1.8-Ank3 interaction using short lipidated peptide (SLiP)",
    "Mimetic Medicines developing investigational SLiP candidates for chronic pain treatment"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}