Pain Research: Methods and Protocols

Despite significant advances in molecular biology techniques and in our understanding of the physiology and the behavioral pharmacology of pain transduction, effective, target-specific therapeutic agents for chronic pain are still lacking. In Pain Research: Methods and Protocols, leading researchers who have first-hand experience describe, in step-by-step detail, diverse and novel techniques for dissecting the molecular mechanisms of pain transduction. These readily reproducible methods employ a variety of multidisciplinary approaches ranging from animal pain models and single neutron selection to in vitro single-cell mRNA amplification. The collection includes not only standard, cutting-edge methods, but also novel techniques only recently applied to pain research. The protocols follow the successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, each one offering step-by-step laboratory instructions, an introduction outlining the principle behind the technique, lists of equipment and reagents, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Versatile and easy-to-use, Pain Research: Methods and Protocols offers today's pain researchers in academic and pharmaceutical laboratories powerful tools to unravel the cellular and molecular complexity of pain transduction and set the stage for the next generation of pain medications.