MicroRNA-182-5p Regulates Nerve Injury–induced Nociceptive Hypersensitivity by Targeting Ephrin Type-b Receptor 1

Background: The authors and others have previously shown that the up-regulation of spinal ephrin type-b receptor 1 plays an essential role in the pathologic process of nerve injury–induced nociceptive hypersensitivity, but the regulatory mechanism remains unclear. Methods: Radiant heat and von Frey filaments were applied to assess nociceptive behaviors. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting, fluorescence in situ hybridization, immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, dual-luciferase reporter gene assays, recombinant lentivirus, and small interfering RNA were used to characterize the likely mechanisms. Results: Periphery nerve injury induced by chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve significantly reduced spinal microRNA-182-5p (miR-182-5p) expression levels, which were inversely correlated with spinal ephrin type-b receptor 1 expression (R2 = 0.90; P Conclusions: Collectively, our findings reveal that the spinal ephrin type-b receptor 1 is regulated by miR-182-5p in nerve injury–induced nociceptive hypersensitivity.