Excessive epithelial mechanosensation drives nociceptive innervation and chronic bladder pain via the PIEZO1-SLC7A11-glutamate axis.
- Open access
Excessive epithelial mechanosensation via PIEZO1 increases glutamate-driven nerve growth, causing chronic bladder pain in infection models.
- Why it matters: Understanding how epithelial stress leads to persistent pain is crucial for developing treatments for chronic visceral pain conditions linked to infections.
- What they did: The study used molecular and cellular approaches to show PIEZO1 upregulation in bladder epithelium during infection, promoting ROS and glutamate release through SLC7A11.
- The result: This pathway causes nerve sprouting and hyperinnervation, resulting in heightened bladder sensitivity and pain, revealing new therapeutic targets for infection-related chronic pain.