Drexel University College of Medicine

The research focus in the lab is to understand the molecular mechanisms of pain with emphasis on epigenetics. Chronic pain is an inevitable consequence of nerve injury. The long-term prognosis for chronic pain is poor and takes a huge toll on suffering patients. Pharmacological intervention is often inadequate or produces undesirable side effects, and novel approaches to treating pain are critical. There is mounting evidence that deregulation resulting in disease states can be due to epigenetic alterations in addition to genetic factors. The epigenetic factors include a variety of chromatin modifications affecting the methylation status of DNA and posttranslational modifications of histones. In addition, recently identified small, noncoding endogenous RNAs called microRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as key regulators of a wide range of biological process, introducing yet another dimension to epigenetic modulation of cellular function. miRNAs regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally by binding to the 3’-untranslated regions of specific mRNAs. Aberrant miRNA expression is a common feature in a variety of human diseases thus providing avenues for the identification of biomarkers and new opportunities for the discovery and validation of novel therapeutic targets. In addition to gene regulation by microRNAs, their use as potential biomarkers for pain is also being investigated.