Over half of the people carrying HIV experience chronic pain at some point, which is difficult to treat. In a new JNeurosci paper, Hui-Lin Pan, from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues used mice to explore how HIV leads to chronic pain.
Previous research separately linked a viral protein called glycoprotein 120 (gp120) to increased pain sensitivity and overactive signaling of a type of nerve receptor in the spine to nerve pain. Informed by these findings, the researchers sought to investigate whether gp120 influences signaling of this nerve receptor. Injecting gp120 into the spine of mice increased the nerve receptor’s activity through a mechanism that affected a specific neuron population. Using a combination of drug-based and genetic approaches targeting the molecular players involved, the researchers discovered they could reverse the mechanism they identified and reduce pain hypersensitivity in the mice.
According to the researchers, this work shows how an HIV-associated protein amplifies pain signaling in the spinal cord and shows that disrupting this mechanism may lessen pain sensitivity. Pan looks forward to continuing this work, saying, “We are particularly excited about developing therapeutic approaches to disrupt [this mechanism, specifically by targeting protein interactions with the nerve receptor]. These targeted strategies may provide more precise and effective treatments for chronic neuropathic pain, not only in HIV, but potentially in other conditions as well.”
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About JNeurosci
JNeurosci was launched in 1981 as a means to communicate the findings of the highest quality neuroscience research to the growing field. Today, the journal remains committed to publishing cutting-edge neuroscience that will have an immediate and lasting scientific impact, while responding to authors' changing publishing needs, representing breadth of the field and diversity in authorship.
About The Society for Neuroscience
The Society for Neuroscience is the world's largest organization of scientists and physicians devoted to understanding the brain and nervous system. The nonprofit organization, founded in 1969, now has nearly 35,000 members in more than 95 countries.
JNeurosci
10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0368-26.2026
HIV-1 gp120 Induces Nociceptive Hypersensitivity via α2δ-1–bound NMDA Receptors at Primary Afferent-Excitatory Neuron Synapses
1-Jun-2026
The authors of this JNeurosci paper are employees of the University of Texas System, which currently holds a patent for targeting α2δ-1-bound glutamate receptors to treat diseases and disorders.