A fruit fly model for studying paclitaxel-induced pain

Background : Paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy is a common and limiting side effect of an approved and effective chemotherapeutic agent. The cause of this nociception is still unknown. Methods : To uncover the mechanism involved in paclitaxel-induced pain, we developed a Drosophila thermal nociceptive model to show the effects of paclitaxel exposure on third instar larvae. Results : We found that paclitaxel increases pain perception in a dose-dependent manner, without overt morphological changes. Conclusions : Our simple, high throughput model can be combined with genomics approaches to identify regulators of chemotherapy-induced pain to eliminate its adverse side effects.