Interesting Science article on migraine

[DrDu]

In a recent volume of Science magazine, there was a very interesting article on
the genesis of migraine. However I found it very difficult to follow as a non-specialist.
Someone would like to comment on it?

Spreading Depression Triggers Headache by Activating Neuronal Panx1 Channels
Hulya Karatas,
Sefik Evren Erdener,
Yasemin Gursoy-Ozdemir,
Sevda Lule,
Emine Eren-Koçak,
Zümrüt Duygu Sen,
and Turgay Dalkara
Science 1 March 2013: 339 (6123), 1092-1095. [DOI:10.1126/science.1231897]

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6123/1092.abstract

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

For others: Here is the abstract and some figures. The rest is behind a paywall.

Migraine is a common medical disorder. Unfortunately, how and why migraine headache is initiated is unclear. Karatas et al. (p. 1092) now describe a signaling pathway between stressed neurons and meningeal trigeminal afferents, which may explain how migraine headaches can be generated.

The initial phase in the development of a migraine is still poorly understood. Here, we describe a previously unknown signaling pathway between stressed neurons and trigeminal afferents during cortical spreading depression (CSD), the putative cause of migraine aura and headache. CSD caused neuronal Pannexin1 (Panx1) megachannel opening and caspase-1 activation followed by high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) release from neurons and nuclear factor κB activation in astrocytes. Suppression of this cascade abolished CSD-induced trigeminovascular activation, dural mast cell degranulation, and headache. CSD-induced neuronal megachannel opening may promote sustained activation of trigeminal afferents via parenchymal inflammatory cascades reaching glia limitans. This pathway may function to alarm an organism with headache when neurons are stressed.

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6123/1092.figures-only