Potential pain treatment’s mechanism deciphered

Cells from bone marrow give long-term relief to mice with nerve damage

Therapeutic cells (pink)

TARGETED TREATMENT  Therapeutic cells (pink) extracted from bone marrow can deliver pain-relieving proteins to nerve cells in the spine (blue). The therapeutic cells congregate around injured areas, following chemical signals to damaged cells. 

Gang Chen, Duke University

Scientists think they have a new understanding of a potential long-lasting, targeted treatment for chronic pain.