Understanding causes of chronic low back pain
Official title: Mechanistic underpinnings of chronic low back pain
Funded at University of Texas Dallas · NIH-11171505 · Data updated 2026-11-12
We are using advanced cell-level RNA sequencing on nerves and spine tissues from people having surgery for chronic low back pain to look for biological changes that may cause ongoing pain.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Texas Dallas NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Richardson, United States) |
| Project start | September 19, 2022 |
| Project end | August 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $627,952 |
| NIH project number | 5U19NS130608-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11171505 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are adults with chronic low back pain who are undergoing elective spine surgery and agree to tissue donation and detailed clinical phenotyping.
✕Less likely to help
People without chronic low back pain, those not undergoing spine surgery, or those seeking an immediate treatment benefit are unlikely to benefit directly from participation.
What this research studies
If you join, surgeons will collect samples of nerves, joints, muscles, and fascia during planned spine surgery and researchers will link those samples to detailed clinical information about your pain. Scientists will apply single-cell, single-nucleus, and bulk RNA sequencing to find which cell types and genes differ in people with chronic low back pain. A computational interactome will map how cells and neurons communicate and will be compared to pain neuron (DRG) transcriptomes from donors and patients. Finally, lab experiments on human DRG neurons from organ donors will test how candidate pain mediators affect human nerve cells.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: This work could reveal molecular drivers of chronic low back pain that point to new biomarkers or targets for better treatments.
How similar studies have gone: Related single-cell and DRG transcriptome studies have identified promising molecular leads, but applying these methods to surgical CLBP tissues and testing effects on human DRG neurons is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Texas Dallas
Richardson, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Curatolo, Michele — University of Texas Dallas
- Study coordinator: Curatolo, Michele
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.