Pot and Pain

The pressure for states to legalize Marijuana for medical and recreational use is building. The tax benefits are self evident.

The debate for many centers of "true medical benefits". That's why research on understanding analgesic pathways is so important. Ironically, this study was conducted by my friends at Université de Montréal and Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec Canada: J. Desroches, J.-F. Bouchard, L. Gendron, P. Beaulieu. Involvement of cannabinoid receptors in peripheral and spinal morphine analgesia ☆ Neuroscience, Volume 261, 7 March 2014, Pages 23–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2013.12.030.

These teams have proven expert is using our Opioid Receptor Antibodies in their pain research. Here's a synopsis:
•Analgesia is the most common feature shared by the cannabinoid and opioid systems.
•The role of the cannabinoid system in the morphine-induced analgesia is uncertain.
•Peripheral and intrathecal morphine analgesia is altered in cnr1KO and cnr2KO mice.
•This attenuation is neither caused by a MOP malfunction nor by its downregulation.

Images: Deletion of the CB1 or CB2 receptors has no effect on the expression of MOP in the spinal cord. Immunofluorescence of spinal MOP revealed that the expression of MOP in laminae I and II of the dorsal horn of the spinal cord did not differ between cnr1WT (A) and cnr1KO (B) mice or between cnr2WT (C) and cnr2KO mice (D).


Observations here further support the existence of interactions between the cannabinoid and opioid systems. The loss of peripheral and spinal morphine analgesia is apparently caused neither by a decrease in MOP spinal expression nor by altered binding properties or G protein coupling of this receptor in cnr1KO and cnr2KO mice. The mechanisms underlying the loss of morphine analgesia are not clear but could include the release of endogenous cannabinoids in structures along the pain pathway or a disrupted endocannabinoid tone.

It is important funding that enables researchers to understand the analgesic pathways of marijuana continues to grow. This research could yield better control of pain with reduced side effects.

FGF and Stem Cells-Options Matter

Proven, Potent and Cost Effective Fibroblast Growth Factors (FGF).

Neuromics have a wealth of expertise in Stem Cells, Media and Growth Factors. FGF is an important component of Stem Cell Based Assays. Our goal is to provide an FGF that fits your requirements like "hand in glove".

Here's a small sampling:
ISO-kine bFGF-100% animal free and serum free-is produced in the endosperm tissue of barley grain (Hordeum vulgare), that exhibits up to 50 times less protease activity than E.coli or mammalian cells. Barley seed is void of any human or animal viral contaminants that could jeopardize your cell culture.

Images A: Expression of OCT4 (green) in the ORF group. B: Expression of TRA-1-60 (green) in the ORF group.

FGF basic (146 aa)-Anika Chowdhury, Louis W Bezuidenhout, Aillette Mulet-Sierra, Nadr M Jomha and Adetola B Adesida. Effect of interleukin-1β treatment on co-cultures of human meniscus cells and bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2013, 14:216 doi:10.1186/1471-2474-14-216

...15 million MNCs were seeded per 150 cm2 tissue culture flask. Culture media was alpha MEM supplemented with 10% heat inactivated fetal bovine serum, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, 100 mM HEPES buffer, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, 100 U/ml penicillin, 100 μg/ml streptomycin, 0.29 mg/ml L-glutamine (all from Invitrogen, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) and 5 ng/ml of basic FGF or FGF-2 (Neuromics, Edina, MN, USA). Plastic adherent MNCs were allowed to attach and proliferate for 7 days before the first media change under normal oxygen tension (21% O2; 95% air) at 37°C in a humidified incubator with 5% CO2...

Images: Histological characteristics of pellets formulated from mono-cultured MCs, mono-cultured BMSCs and co-cultures of MC and BMSCs after a total of 17 days culture in defined serum-free chondrogenic media. (A-B) Safranin O and collagen II immuno-histochemical staining of representative pellets from cells derived from the same donor. Magnification lens × 20; scale bar is 100 μm. Chowdhury et al. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2013 14:216 doi:10.1186/1471-2474-14-216

We are working hard to provide unique and cost effective solutions for your Stem Cell Based Assay Requirements.

TRPV1 and Osteoarthritis Related Pain

Our TRPV Antibodies are widely used and frequently published. Many of these feature TRPVs' role in nociceptive pain. Specifically they play important roles in the detection of noxious stimuli and inflammatory hyperalgesia.

TRPV1 has been implicated in OA pain, both in animal models and by the finding that TRPV1 genetic variants are associated with the risk of symptomatic knee OA in humans: S Kelly, R J Chapman, S Woodhams, D R Sagar, J Turner, J J Burston, C Bullock, K Paton, J Huang, A Wong, D F McWilliams, B N Okine, D A Barrett, G J Hathway, D A Walsh, V Chapman. Increased function of pronociceptive TRPV1 at the level of the joint in a rat model of osteoarthritis pain. Ann Rheum Dis doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2013-203413.
Methods: Rat spinal cord sections from MIA- and saline-treated rats (n=5/group) (see online supplemental methods) were incubated with a polyclonal guinea pig anti-TRPV1 antibody (1 : 500, Neuromics, Edina, Minnesota, USA catalogue number GP14100) and then with Alexa 568-conjugated goat anti-guinea pig secondary antibody (1:300, Molecular Probes). TRPV1 immunostaining was visualised with a Leica DMRB/DM4000 B fluorescence microscope and images were acquired using Openlab software (PerkinElmer)...

Images: Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) immunoreactivity in the spinal cord. TRPV1 immunofluorescence detected in superficial dorsal horn (10× magnification) in rat lumbar (L3–L5) spinal cord at day 28 post-intra-articular injection of saline (A) or mono-iodoacetate (MIA) (B). Minimum and maximum brightness values were altered (32.01 min and 90.14 max) using Image J so as to highlight the area of TRPV1 positive staining. (C) Quantification of TRPV1 immunofluorescence in superficial dorsal horn of spinal cord taken from rats at 14 or 28 days following intra-articular injection of MIA and at day 28 following intra-articular injection of saline. Data are expressed as mean and SEM (n=5 per group).

Clinical trials of oral TRPV1 antagonists have been limited by on-target-induced hyperthermia. Here experimental evidence for increased functional role of TRPV1 at the level of the joint in a model of OA pain and the demonstration that blockade of joint TRPV1 ablates sensory afferent sensitization and pain behaviour support future targeted site-specific investigations of the therapeutic potential of TRPV1 for OA pain associated with synovitis. This could be good news for OA sufferers.