Tamara E. King
Research Assistant Professor of Pharmacology
Ph.D., Texas A&M University, 1997
Life Sciences North 555
(520) 626-4940
kingt@email.arizona.edu
Research Interests
- Opioid induced tolerance and paradoxical pain
- Neuroplasticity in spinal nociceptive processing
Research Activties
My current research examines changes in pain processing that occur after sustained exposure to morphine in experimental animals. Sustained exposure to morphine induces increased sensitivity to pain and touch, known as hyperalgesia and allodynia respectively. I employ a variety of behavioral, immunohistochemical and neuroanatomical approaches to identify the neurochemical signaling that processes noxious and innocuous sensory inputs to the spinal cord, and evaluate possible changes in these processes that may underlie chronic morphine induced abnormal pain.
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Sustained morphine induces substance P receptor (NK-1) internalization in deep dorsal horn neurons. Confocal images show that mechanical stimulation induces NK-1 receptor internalization in the spinal cord dorsal horn of rats 6 d after placebo (A,C) or morphine (B,D) pellets were implanted subcutaneously. Arrowheads indicate neurons with NK-1 receptor internalization in lamina I spinal neurons. Sustained exposure to morphine induces NK-1 receptor internalization in deeper lamina III-V neurons as well as in lamina I neurons (B,D). High power magnification illustrates the difference between deep dorsal horn neurons with and without NK-1 receptor internalization (C,D). Scale bar = 100 µm (A,C); 20 µm (B,D). |
Selected Publications
King T, Gardell LR, Wang R, Vardanyan A, Ossipov MH, Malan TP, Jr, Vanderah TW, Lai J, Porreca F (in preparation) Sustained morphine treatment forges the neurochemical signature of inflammatory pain.
King, T, Barr, GA (in press) Functional development of neurokinin peptides substance P and neurokinin A in nociception. Neuroreport
King, TE, Wang, S, Cheng, J, Barr, GA (2000) Maturation of the NK-1 receptor involvement in the nociceptive response to formalin. Synapse, 36, 254-266
King, TE, Heath, M, Debs, P, Davis, M, Hen, R, Barr, G (2000) The development of nociceptive responses in neurokinin-1 knockout mice. Neuroreport, 1, 587-91.