Pain Research—Methods and Protocols

The advancements of medical technology, improvements in medical care, and increased patients’ life span make pain research and related drug development high priorities for both the research community and pharmaceutical companies. Rapid development of basic science research tools, such as techniques of flurometric labeling, genomic and proteomic high throughput screening, and genetically modified animals, promotes the swift acceleration of pain research to a stage allowing integrated investigations of pain processing mechanisms at the single cell and/or molecule level, and in a spatially and temporally controlled manner. Using multidisciplinary approaches, we can dissect the complicity of the sensory circuits connecting peripheral stimulation to maladaptive changes in the sensory pathways as well as pain perceptions at the central nervous system. Pain Research: Methods and Protocols, Second Edition provides advanced techniques and animal models that are critical for integrated pain research. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology? series format, chapters contain introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and accessible, Pain Research: Methods and Protocols, Second Edition serves as an ideal guide to novice pain researchers who may not have extensive experiences in the field, or to experienced pain researchers who would like to expand their research in new directions and/or to new mechanisms in different models.