Fletcher A. White, Ph.D.
Professor and V.K. Stoelting Chair of Anesthesia
Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology
Education / Training:
PhD, Medical College of Ohio (1994)
Cytokine/Chemokine signaling and the sensory neuron.
The focus of the White Lab is on the peripheral nervous system is the biology of the primary afferent neuron. Primary afferent neurons transduce and convey somatic sensation (touch, pressure, temperature, [warm or cold], pain [including itch and tickle] and proprioception) from peripheral target tissues (skin, muscle, viscera) to the spinal cord dorsal horn. The long-term goal of my research program is to understand the mechanisms, at the cellular and molecular level, by which primary afferent neurons function under both normal conditions and following peripheral nerve injury or disease. Research avenues directed at this goal have included axon guidance cues, neurotrophic factors, programmed cell death, heat shock proteins and most recently, cytokines and chemokines.
Damage to peripheral nerves following trauma or disease has a number of consequences including the emergence of neuropathic pain. Commonly, neuropathic pain sufferers experience spontaneous burning pain in and radiating from the area innervated by the damaged nerves, and an exquisite sensitivity to light touch stimuli, which are now perceived as painful. These neuropathic pains are often refractory to conventional analgesic therapy, with most patients obtaining at best only partial relief. Unfortunately, neuropathic pains are frequently also very persistent and do not resolve with time. Thus, neuropathic pain is often an extremely debilitating condition with a bleak outlook. Our research focus is on the pathophysiological and neural-immune mechanisms linking injury to the peripheral nervous system with structural and chemical alterations in the central nervous system causing neuropathic pain.
Recent Publications:
Bhangoo SK, Ren, D Miller RJ, Henry KJ, Lineswala J, Hamdouchi C, Li B, Monahan PE, Chan DM, Ripsch MS, White FA. Delayed Functional Expression of Neuronal Chemokine Receptors Following Focal Nerve Demyelination in the Rat: A Mechanism for the Development of Chronic Sensitization of Peripheral Nociceptors. Molecular Pain, 3:38. 2007.
Jung HS, Toth PT, White FA, Miller RJ. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) functions as a neurotransmitter in dorsal root ganglion neurons. Journal of Neurochemistry, Jan;104(1):254-63, 2008.
Jellish WS, Zhang X, Langen K, Spector M, White FA. Intrathecal magnesium sulfate administration at the time of experimental ischemia improves neurological functioning by reducing acute and delayed loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord. Anesthesiology, Jan;108(1):78-86, 2008.
Zhang HJ, Mei XF, Ma C, Donnelly DF, White FA, LaMotte RH. Altered functional properties of satellite glial cells following a chronic compression of the rat dorsal root ganglion. Glia, Mar 29 [epublished online], 2009.
Jung H, Bhangoo S, Banisadr G, Freitag C, White FA, Miller RJ. Visualization of chemokine receptor activation in vivo reveals peripheral activation of CCR2 receptors in states of neuropathic pain. Journal of Neuroscience, Jun 24;29(25):8051-62, 2009.
Bhangoo S, Ripsch M, Buchanan DJ, Miller RJ, White FA. Increased chemokine signaling in a model of HIV1-associated peripheral neuropathy. Molecular Pain, Aug 12;5:48, 2009.
Recent Reviews:
White FA, Jung H, Miller RJ. Invited Perspective. Chemokines and the pathophysiology of neuropathic pain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, USA, Dec 18;104(51):20151-8, 2007.
White FA, Wilson NM. Chemokines as pain mediators and modulators.
Current Opinions in Anesthesiology, Oct;21(5):580-5, 2008.
Miller RJ, Rostene W, Apartis E, Banisadr G, Biber K, Milligan ED, White FA, Zhang J. Chemokines in the nervous system. Journal of Neuroscience, 28:11792-11795, 2008.
Abbadie C, Bhangoo S, De Koninick Y, Malcangio M, White FA. Chemokines and pain mechanisms. Brain Research Reviews, Dec 25, 2008 [Epub ahead of print].
Miller RJ, Jung H, Bhangoo SK, White FA. Cytokine and chemokine regulation of sensory neuron function. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, 194:417-49, 2009.
White FA, Feldman P, Miller RJ. Chemokine signaling and the management of neuropathic pain. Molecular Interventions, 9(4):188-195, 2009.
White F and Wilson N. Opioid-induced hypernociception and chemokine receptors. Neuropharmacology, published online July 15th, 2009.
