Programme for Neuroscience Students

PENS – PARTIALLY SUPPORTED SCHOOL

European Pain School: Molecular Mechanisms of Pain Response
PENS – PARTIALLY SUPPORTED SCHOOL, June 13 - 20, 2009
Siena, Italy
Application Deadline: expired 2009-02-28

Scientific Organisers

A.M. Aloisi, G. Carli, M. Devor,
M. Zimmermann

Faculty

A.M. Aloisi, G. Carli, M. Devor,
M. Kress, O. Krishtal, J. Lötsch,
M. Malcangio, B. Przewlocka, D. Sapunar,
J. N. Wood, C. Woolf, M. Zimmermann,
J.-K. Zubieta

Application Information

Application for this school need to be submitted to the school directly. The forms to apply are available at the following address: http://www.unisi.it/l0/postlaurea.html?fld=2957.

Please return the forms to:

europeanpainschool@unisi.it or aloisi@unisi.it

Fee: 400 Euro (to be paid only after the acceptance of the application).

Structured CV for applicants to the European Pain School
Please follow this item list when composing your complete and informative CV for the Application as a Scholar. The CV is required in addition to the Registration to the Rector of the University of Siena.
- Study of which subject(s), when, how long, at which University?
- Which types of examination planned or passed, when, where?
- Name(s) of Mentor(s)?
- Thesis work (PhD, Master, Diploma, Bachelor), title, when started/submitted? Accepted?
- Abstract of thesis if completed or nearly completed? See abstract guidelines and sample abstract below
- PostDoc/Other Positions held? When? Where?
- Special experience in the field of pain (research, clinical, course attended, reading textbook or journal papers)
- Honors/Awards received?
- Fellowship or other status of guest scientist hold, when, where? In foreign country?
- International /National Congresses/Meetings attended, when, where? Presentation(s) given? Title(s) of presentation(s)?
- List of Publications in English Language/in Home Language/Published abstracts?
- Type of training/experience of English language, when, how long? English Course? Level of understanding/speaking?
- Special interests or hobbies outside the study subject?

See abstract guidelines and sample abstract below.

This section holds only for those having completed, or nearly completed, a thesis, or any other pain related research work, including medical research.

Abstract Guidelines for the European Pain School

Abstracts should be in English confined to a total of 3.000 characters (spaces included) and have the following format (see sample abstract below):
- Word text file, DOC format
- Font of abstract: Times Roman, Font size 12 point (pt)
- Line spacing : 15 point (pt)
- Title: Use bold type font, but not capital letters
- In title, please indicate the species or preparation used and do not use uncommon abbreviations. Commonly used abbreviations are, e.g., ATP, CNS, DNA, RNA, GABA, NMDA, c-fos, c-jun …
- Authors (Name, Initials), with the presenting author underlined
- Research Institution(s), City, Country, but not the street address. If several institutes were involved, associate them by superscript numbers 1, 2, … given to names and affiliations
- Presenting author’s Email address
- Subdivide text in Background & Aims, Methods, Results, Conclusion
- Explain abbreviations in the text when they are used for the first time, except the common abbreviations as above
- In Methods state the approval of the research (plan) by (which?) Ethical or Legal Committee
- Provide an acknowledgment stating the funding sources
- Add up to 2 journal references (optional) within the total abstract space of 3.000 characters
Submit abstract by e-mail, as an attached text file in DOC format
E-mail address for abstract submission: epsiena@aol.com

Inquiries to
Prof. Manfred Zimmermann, epsiena@aol.com

Sample Abstract (consisting of a total of 3.000 characters, spaces included)

C-Fos activation in brainstem neurons expressing neurokinin NK1 and µ-opioid receptors by controlled evoked movement of a chronically inflamed joint in the rat
M. Ponti, I.F. Vatarones, D. Millenia
Inst Histol & Embryol, Fac Med Univ Aperto, Oporto 4200, Portugal
Email: mpontifex@medport.tp
Background and Aims. Previous studies have shown that chronic pain induces changes in the neurochemistry of spinal dorsal horn neuronal circuits. It has not been studied yet whether similar changes occur supraspinally at the endogenous pain modulatory system. Here we investigate brainstem regions using the expression of c-fos protooncogene as a result of passively moving an inflamed joint. We further studied the expression of NK1 and µ-opioid receptors in the areas that presented significant increases in c-fos expres¬sion.
Methods. Male Wistar rats were injected in the tibiotarsal joint with either 50 l (microlitre) of saline (n=6) or 50 l of Complete Freund’s Adjuvant (CFA, n=12). The animals were daily handled for 14 days in order to get habituated to the experimenter. The animals were divided in three groups according to treatment: “control group” (CON) injected with saline and with no extra movement; “monoarthritic group with no extra movement” (MANM), injected with CFA and with no extra movement; and “monoarthritic group with extra move¬ment” (MAEM), injected with CFA and subjected to 4 min of continuous flex¬ions/extensions of the inflamed joint. After either treatment, rats were immedi¬ately anaesthetised with isoflurane and perfused. Brainstem frozen sections were dou¬ble-immunoreacted for Fos protein and NK1 receptors. The research plan was approved by the Ethical Committee of the University of Aporto.
Results. No differences in the number of c-fos immunoreactive (IR) cells were found between groups CON and MANM. In comparison to the other groups, the MAEM group presented an increase of Fos-IR neurons in the caudal ventrolateral medulla, lateral, dorsal and ventral reticular nuclei, spinal trigeminal nucleus, nucleus of the solitary tract, gracile, cuneate, ambiguous, vestibular, lateral paragigantocellular nuclei; gigantocellular and rostroventrolateral reticular nuclei; prepositus nucleus and A5 noradrenergic area. In what concerns double-IR neurons, no differences were found between the groups, in the number of Fos neurons expressing either NK1 or µ-opioid receptors.
Conclusions. Moving a chronically inflamed joint induces functional activation of several areas of the endogenous pain control system, confirming the importance of the system in chronic pain. NK1 and µ-opioid receptors do not appear to be involved in supraspinal processes of chronic pain, being in contrast with results obtained in acute pain condi¬tions (Pinto et al., 2003).
Supported by FCT project and Gulbenkian Pain Program
Reference
Pinto M. et al., 2003 Noxious-evoked c-fos expression in brainstem neurons immuno¬reactive for GABAB, µ-opioid and NK-1 receptors. Eur. J. Neurosci., 17: 1393-1402

See also http://www.esrs.eu/cms/front_content.php?idcat=73

Contact

europeanpainschool@unisi.it