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Transcriptional and post-transcriptional control of pain
Tel: 020 7679 0959
Email: a.okorokov@ucl.ac.uk
IRIS Profile: https://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=AOKOR60
Pain is a major clinical problem and affects more people than diabetes, heart disease and cancer combined. Pain is a cofactor in many medical conditions yet pain medicines are often only partially effective, and the problem is increasing with an aging population. By understanding the cellular and molecular processes that lead to the sensation of pain, more effective targeted therapies can be developed to alleviate suffering.
One way of doing so is analysing genetic conditions in which patients have altered levels of pain sensitivity, in particular the cases where pain sensitivity and perception are diminished. Identifying human genes, which are responsible for such a phenotype and their functional products, allows us to pinpoint the key players in the chain of molecular events providing for pain sensation.
After two decades of work in transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of tumour suppression (p53 field), I am now establishing a new research direction into the transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of pain pathways.