American Pain Society's 27th Annual Scientific Meeting (May 8 – 10, 2008): Applying Molecular Technologies to Individual Differences in Pain and Analgesia: Merits and Limitations of the Methodologies

One of the greatest contributions of molecular technology to pain research is the ability to explore the role of genes in individual differences in pain-related traits. However, each method has its strengths and weaknesses. In this session, we present different molecular technologies applied to animal and human studies of pain. Dr. David Clark will present haplotype-based murine genetic mapping linking polymorphisms in the beta-adrenergic receptor and P-glycoprotein genes to strain-specific opioid tolerance, dependence, and opioid-induced hyperalgesia traits. Dr. Hyungsuk Kim will discuss significant findings and their clinical implications based on microarray genome-wide scans including gene expression, mapping and copy number variation in human studies of analgesia, and various pain models. Dr. William Lariviere will present findings from the use of the recombinant inbred mouse model used for genome-wide scans in addition to covariance analyses among pain traits and with tissue-specific mRNA transcript levels. Particular attention will be given to the merits and limitations of the various technologies applied to their research. Ample time will be given for questions and answers, and for discussion of relevance to clinical practice. This symposium is supported by the efforts of members of the Genetics and Pain SIG.