Vascular endothelial growth factor-A/vascular endothelial growth factor2 signaling in spinal neurons contributes to bone cancer pain

Tumor metastasis to bone is often accompanied by a severe pain syndrome (cancer-induced bone pain, CIBP) that is frequently unresponsive to analgesics, which markedly reduces patient quality of life and cancer treatment tolerance in patients. Prolonged pain can induce hypersensitivity via spinal plasticity, and several recent studies have implicated the involvement of vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) signaling in this process. Here, we speculated that CIBP is associated with VEGF-A/VEGFR2 signaling in the spinal cord. A mouse model of CIBP was established by intramedullary injection of Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cells in the mouse femur. Pain sensitization and potential amelioration via VEGF-A/VEGFR2 blockade were measured using paw withdrawal threshold to mechanical stimulation and paw withdrawal latency to thermal. Spinal VEGF-A/VEGFR2 signaling was blocked by intrathecal injection of the VEGF-A antibody or the specific VEGFR2 inhibitor ZM323881. Changes in the expression levels of VEGF-A, VEGFR2, and other pain-related signaling factors were measured using western blotting and immunofluorescence staining. Mice after LLC injection demonstrated mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia, both of which were suppressed via anti-VEGF-A antibody or ZM323881. Conversely, the intrathecal injection of exogenous VEGF-A was sufficient to cause pain hypersensitivity in naïve mice via the VEGFR2-mediated activation of protein kinase C. Moreover, the spinal blockade of VEGF-A or VEGFR2 also suppressed N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) activation and downstream Ca2+-dependent signaling. Thus, spinal VEGF-A/VEGFR2/NMDAR signaling pathways may be critical mediators of CIBP.