Astrocytic purinergic signalling contributes to the development and maintenance of neuropathic pain via modulation of glutamate release

Although activation of astrocytes is critical in developing neuropathic pain (NP) following nerve injury, the underlying mechanisms of NP and therapeutic management for NP are still vague. Importantly, the decreases in the levels of astrocytic glutamate transporter‐1 (GLT‐1) in the spinal dorsal horn result in enhanced excitatory transmission and cause persistent pain. P2Y1 purinergic receptor (P2Y1R) has been shown to enhance many inflammatory processes. The up‐regulated expression of astrocytic P2Y1R is crucial to participate in pain transduction under conditions of nerve injury and peripheral inflammation considering that P2Y1R is potentially involved in glutamate release and synaptic transmission. This study indicates that the expression of P2Y1R in the spinal cord was increased accompanied by the activation of A1 phenotype astrocytes in the rat model of spinal nerve ligation (SNL). Astrocyte‐specific knockdown of P2Y1R alleviated SNL‐induced nociceptive responses and mitigated A1 reactive astrocytes, which subsequently increased GLT‐1 expression. Conversely, in naïve rats, P2Y1R over‐expression induced a canonical NP‐like phenotype and spontaneous hypernociceptive responses and increased the concentration of glutamate in the spinal dorsal horn. Besides, our in vitro data showed that the proinflammatory cytokine tumour necrosis factor‐alpha contributes to A1/A2 astrocyte reactivity and Ca2+‐dependent release of glutamate. Conclusively, our results provide novel insights that as a significant regulator of astrocytic A1/A2 polarization and neuroinflammation, P2Y1R may represent a potential target for the treatment of SNL‐induced NP. Activation of astrocytic P2Y1 purinergic receptor (P2Y1R) is emerging as a critical element in astrocyte‐neuron crosstalk under various pathological conditions. Our present study found that astrocyte‐specific inhibition of P2Y1R relieves nerve injury‐induced nociceptive responses and diminishes A1 astrocytes and inflammatory factor levels, which subsequently reduces glutamate release. Up‐regulation of P2Y1R can lead to a canonical neuropathic pain (NP)‐like hyperalgesia and spontaneous pain. We further identified that tumour necrosis factor‐alpha induces up‐regulation of P2Y1R, which contributes to A1/A2 astrocyte reactivity and Ca2+‐dependent release of glutamate in vitro. These findings have important implications that astrocytic P2Y1R plays a crucial role in the development and maintenance of NP.