Fabry disease Schwann cells release p11 to induce sensory neuron hyperactivity.

Patients with Fabry disease suffer from chronic debilitating pain and peripheral sensory neuropathy with minimal treatment options, but the cellular drivers of this pain are unknown. Here, we propose a mechanism we believe to be novel in which altered signaling between Schwann cells and sensory neurons underlies the peripheral sensory nerve dysfunction we observed in a genetic rat model of Fabry disease. Using in vivo and in vitro electrophysiological recordings, we demonstrated that Fabry rat sensory neurons exhibited pronounced hyperexcitability. Schwann cells probably contributed to this finding because application of mediators released from cultured Fabry Schwann cells induced spontaneous activity and hyperexcitability in naive sensory neurons. We examined putative algogenic mediators using proteomic analysis and found that Fabry Schwann cells released elevated levels of the protein p11 (S100A10), which induced sensory neuron hyperexcitability. Removal of p11 from Fabry Schwann cell media caused hyperpolarization of neuronal resting membrane potentials, indicating that p11 may contribute to the excessive neuronal excitability caused by Fabry Schwann cells. These findings demonstrate that sensory neurons from rats with Fabry disease exhibit hyperactivity caused in part by Schwann cell release of the protein p11.

Schwann cell release of p11 induces sensory neuron hyperactivity in Fabry disease.

Patients with Fabry disease suffer from chronic debilitating pain and peripheral sensory neuropathy with minimal treatment options, but the cellular drivers of this pain are unknown. Here, we propose a novel mechanism by which altered signaling between Schwann cells and sensory neurons underlies the peripheral sensory nerve dysfunction we observe in a genetic rat model of Fabry disease. Using in vivo and in vitro electrophysiological recordings, we demonstrate that Fabry rat sensory neurons exhibit pronounced hyperexcitability. Schwann cells likely contribute to this finding as application of mediators released from cultured Fabry Schwann cells induces spontaneous activity and hyperexcitability in naïve sensory neurons. We examined putative algogenic mediators using proteomic analysis and found that Fabry Schwann cells release elevated levels of the protein p11 (S100-A10) which induces sensory neuron hyperexcitability. Removal of p11 from Fabry Schwann cell media causes hyperpolarization of neuronal resting membrane potential, indicating that p11 contributes to the excessive neuronal excitability caused by Fabry Schwann cells. These findings demonstrate that rats with Fabry disease exhibit sensory neuron hyperexcitability caused in part by Schwann cell release of the protein p11.