Burton, Michael D.
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10735.1/7359
Michael Burton is an assistant professor of Cognition and Neuroscience. He serves on the faculty of the Center for Advanced Pain Studies and as the Principal Investigator of the Neuroimmunology and Behavior Lab. His research interests include:
- Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience.
- How Peripheral Stimuli Communicate to the CNS and Elicit Complex Behaviors with an Emphasis on Pain, Depression, and Metabolism
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Item Nociceptor Translational Profiling Reveals the Ragulator-Rag GTPase Complex as a Critical Generator of Neuropathic Pain(Soc Neuroscience, 2019-01-16) Megat, Salim; Ray, Pradipta R.; Moy, Jamie K.; Lou, Tzu-Fang; Barragan-Iglesias, Paulino; Li, Yan; Pradhan, Grishma; Wanghzou, Andi; Ahmad, Ayesha; Burton, Michael D.; North, Robert Y.; Dougherty, Patrick M.; Khoutorsky, Arkady; Sonenberg, Nahum; Webster, Nevin R.; Dussor, Gregory; Campbell, Zachary T.; Price, Theodore J.; 0000-0003-4281-3985 (Pradhan, G); 0000-0002-0628-824X (Burton, MD); 0000-0002-3768-6996 (Campbell, ZT); 0000-0002-6971-6221 (Price, TJ); Megat, Salim; Ray, Pradipta R.; Moy, Jamie K.; Lou, Tzu-Fang; Barragan-Iglesias, Paulino; Pradhan, Grishma; Wanghzou, Andi; Ahmad, Ayesha; Burton, Michael D.; Dussor, Gregory; Campbell, Zachary T.; Price, Theodore J.Nociceptors, sensory neurons in the DRG that detect damaging or potentially damaging stimuli, are key drivers of neuropathic pain. Injury to these neurons causes activation of translation regulation signaling, including the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) and mitogen-activated protein kinase interacting kinase(MNK) eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) 4E pathways. This is a mechanism driving changes in excitability of nociceptors that is critical for the generation of chronic pain states; however, the mRNAs that are translated to lead to this plasticity have not been elucidated. To address this gap in knowledge, we used translating ribosome affinity purification in male and female mice to comprehensively characterize mRNA translation in Scn10a-positive nociceptors in chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain (CIPN) caused by paclitaxel treatment. This unbiased method creates a new resource for the field, confirms many findings in the CIPN literature and also find extensive evidence for new target mechanisms that may cause CIPN. We provide evidence that an underlying mechanism of CIPN is sustained mTORC1 activation driven by MNK1-eIF4E signaling. RagA, aGTPase controlling mTORC1 activity, is identified as a novel target of MNK1-eIF4E signaling. This demonstrates a novel translation regulation signaling circuit wherein MNK1-eIF4E activity drives mTORC1 via control of RagA translation. CIPN and RagA translation are strongly attenuated by genetic ablation of eIF4E phosphorylation, MNK1 elimination or treatment with the MNK inhibitor eFT508. We identify a novel translational circuit for the genesis of neuropathic pain caused by chemotherapy with important implications for therapeutics.Item Dural Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide Produces Female-Specific Responses in Rodent Migraine Models(Society for Neuroscience, 2019-05-29) Avona, Amanda; Burgos-Vega, Carolina; Burton, Michael D.; Akopian, A. N.; Price, Theodore J.; Dussor, Gregory; 0000-0002-6971-6221 (Price, TJ); 0000-0002-0628-824X (Burton, MD); Avona, Amanda; Burgos-Vega, Carolina; Burton, Michael D.; Price, Theodore J.; Dussor, GregoryMigraine is the second leading cause for disability worldwide and the most common neurological disorder. It is also three times more common in women; reasons for this sex difference are not known. Using preclinical behavioral models of migraine, we show that application of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) to the rat dura mater produces cutaneous periorbital hypersensitivity. Surprisingly, this response was observed only in females; dural CGRP at doses from 1 pg to 3.8 μg produce no responses in males. In females, dural CGRP causes priming to a pH 7.0 solution after animals recover from the initial CGRP-induced allodynia. Dural application of interleukin-6 causes acute responses in males and females but only causes priming to subthreshold dural CGRP (0.1 pg) in females. Intracisternal application of BDNF also causes similar acute hypersensitivity responses in males and females but only priming to subthreshold dural CGRP (0.1 pg) in females. Females were additionally primed to a subthreshold dose of the NO-donor sodium nitroprusside (0.1 mg/kg) following dural CGRP. Finally, the sexually dimorphic responses to dural CGRP were not specific to rats as similar female-specific hypersensitivity responses were seen in mice, where increased grimace responses were also observed. These data are the first to demonstrate that CGRP-induced headache-like behavioral responses at doses up to 3.8 μg are female-specific both acutely and following central and peripheral priming. These data further implicate dural CGRP signaling in the pathophysiology of migraine and propose a model where dural CGRP-based mechanisms contribute to the sexual disparity of this female-biased disorder.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) has long been implicated in the pathophysiology of migraine, and CGRP-based therapeutics are efficacious for the treatment of migraine in humans. However, the location of action for CGRP in migraine remains unclear. We show here that application of CGRP to the cranial meninges causes behavioral responses consistent with headache in preclinical rodent models. Surprisingly, however, these responses are only observed in females. Acute responses to meningeal CGRP are female-specific and sensitization to CGRP after two distinct stimuli are also female-specific. These data implicate the dura mater as a primary location of action for CGRP in migraine and suggest that female-specific mechanisms downstream of CGRP receptor activation contribute to the higher prevalence of migraine in women. Copyright © 2019 the authors.