Surprisingly, TRPV1 receptors do not rely entirely upon calcium signaling to affect cellular biology, but also have a close relationship with the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), AMP activated protein kinase (AMPK), and protein kinase B (Akt) that have roles in pain sensitivity, stem cell development, cellular survival, and cellular metabolism.
In this study, we investigated whether PKB/Akt in primary sensory neurons is activated after noxious stimulation and contributes to pain behavior induced in rats by capsaicin.