The somatosensory world of the African naked mole-rat

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Item Type:	Article
Title:	The somatosensory world of the African naked mole-rat
Creators Name:	Lewin, G.R., Smith, E.S.J., Reznick, J., Debus, K.Y., Barker, A.J. and Park, T.J.
Abstract:	The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) is famous for its longevity and unusual physiology. This eusocial species that lives in highly ordered and hierarchical colonies with a single breeding queen, also discovered secrets enabling somewhat pain-free living around 20 million years ago. Unlike most mammals, naked mole-rats do not feel the burn of chili pepper’s active ingredient, capsaicin, nor the sting of acid. Indeed, by accumulating mutations in genes encoding proteins that are only now being exploited as targets for new pain therapies (the nerve growth factor receptor TrkA and voltage-gated sodium channel, Na(V)1.7), this species mastered the art of analgesia before humans evolved. Recently, we have identified pain-insensitivity as a trait shared by several closely related African mole-rat species. In this chapter we will show how African mole-rats have evolved pain insensitivity as well as discussing what the proximate factors may have been that led to the evolution of pain-free traits.
Keywords:	African Mole-Rats, Evolution, Ion Channels, Nociception, Pain, Animals, Mole Rats
Source:	Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology
Series Name:	Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology
Title of Book:	The Extraordinary Biology of the Naked Mole-Rat
ISSN:	0065-2598
ISBN:	978-3-030-65943-1
Publisher:	Springer
Volume:	1319
Number:	1319
Page Range:	197-220
Number of Pages:	445
Date:	24 August 2021
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65943-1_7
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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