People who inherited a special ion channel from Neanderthals experience more pain
Date:July 23, 2020
Source:
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary
cells have a special ion channel that has a key role in starting the electrical impulse that signals pain and is sent to the brain. New research finds that people who inherited the Neanderthal variant of this ion channel experience more pain.
FULL STORY
Depiction of early humans, photo concept (stock image).
Credit: © Gorodenkoff / stock.adobe.com
Pain is mediated through specialized nerve cells that are activated when potentially harmful things affect various parts of our bodies. These nerve cells have a special ion channel that has a key role in starting the electrical impulse that signals pain and is sent to the brain. According to a new study, people who inherited the Neanderthal variant of this ion channel experience more pain.
As several Neanderthal genomes of high quality are now available researchers can identify genetic changes that were present in many or all Neanderthals, investigate their physiological effects and look into their consequences when they occur in people today. Looking into one gene that carries such changes, Hugo Zeberg, Svante Pääbo and colleagues found that some people, especially from central and south America but also in Europe, have inherited a Neanderthal variant of a gene that encodes an ion channel that initiates the sensation of pain.
By using data from a huge population study in the UK, the authors show that people in the UK who carry the Neanderthal variant of the ion channel experience more pain. "The biggest factor for how much pain people report is their age. But carrying the Neanderthal variant of the ion channel makes you experience more pain similar to if you were eight years older," says lead author Hugo Zeberg, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and Karolinska Institutet. "The Neanderthal variant of the ion channel carries three amino acid differences to the common, 'modern' variant," explains Zeberg. "While single amino acid substitutions do not affect the function of the ion channel, the full Neanderthal variant carrying three amino acid substitutions leads to heightened pain sensitivity in present-day people."
On a molecular level, the Neanderthal ion channel is more easily activated which may explain why people who inherited it have a lowered pain threshold. "Whether Neanderthals experienced more pain is difficult to say because pain is also modulated both in the spinal cord and in the brain," says Pääbo. "But this work shows that their threshold for initiating pain impulses was lower than in most present-day humans."
Story Source:
Materials provided by Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
Hugo Zeberg, Michael Dannemann, Kristoffer Sahlholm, Kristin Tsuo, Tomislav Maricic, Victor Wiebe, Wulf Hevers, Hugh P.C. Robinson, Janet Kelso, Svante Pääbo. A Neanderthal Sodium Channel Increases Pain Sensitivity in Present-Day Humans. Current Biology, 2020; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.06.045
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Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. "Neanderthals may have had a lower threshold for pain: People who inherited a special ion channel from Neanderthals experience more pain." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 July 2020..
FULL STORY
Depiction of early humans, photo concept (stock image).
Credit: © Gorodenkoff / stock.adobe.com
Pain is mediated through specialized nerve cells that are activated when potentially harmful things affect various parts of our bodies. These nerve cells have a special ion channel that has a key role in starting the electrical impulse that signals pain and is sent to the brain. According to a new study, people who inherited the Neanderthal variant of this ion channel experience more pain.
As several Neanderthal genomes of high quality are now available researchers can identify genetic changes that were present in many or all Neanderthals, investigate their physiological effects and look into their consequences when they occur in people today. Looking into one gene that carries such changes, Hugo Zeberg, Svante Pääbo and colleagues found that some people, especially from central and south America but also in Europe, have inherited a Neanderthal variant of a gene that encodes an ion channel that initiates the sensation of pain.
By using data from a huge population study in the UK, the authors show that people in the UK who carry the Neanderthal variant of the ion channel experience more pain. "The biggest factor for how much pain people report is their age. But carrying the Neanderthal variant of the ion channel makes you experience more pain similar to if you were eight years older," says lead author Hugo Zeberg, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and Karolinska Institutet. "The Neanderthal variant of the ion channel carries three amino acid differences to the common, 'modern' variant," explains Zeberg. "While single amino acid substitutions do not affect the function of the ion channel, the full Neanderthal variant carrying three amino acid substitutions leads to heightened pain sensitivity in present-day people."
On a molecular level, the Neanderthal ion channel is more easily activated which may explain why people who inherited it have a lowered pain threshold. "Whether Neanderthals experienced more pain is difficult to say because pain is also modulated both in the spinal cord and in the brain," says Pääbo. "But this work shows that their threshold for initiating pain impulses was lower than in most present-day humans."
Story Source:
Materials provided by Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
Hugo Zeberg, Michael Dannemann, Kristoffer Sahlholm, Kristin Tsuo, Tomislav Maricic, Victor Wiebe, Wulf Hevers, Hugh P.C. Robinson, Janet Kelso, Svante Pääbo. A Neanderthal Sodium Channel Increases Pain Sensitivity in Present-Day Humans. Current Biology, 2020; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.06.045
Cite This Page:
MLA
APA
Chicago
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. "Neanderthals may have had a lower threshold for pain: People who inherited a special ion channel from Neanderthals experience more pain." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 July 2020.
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