Neuropathic pain occurs when peripheral nerves stop functioning properly, resulting in pain in the hands, feet, arms, legs, and trunk. There are many causes such as diabetes mellitus, alcoholism, infectious diseases, toxic effects or hereditary diseases.

The disease is common, with 20% of the population experiencing it once in a lifetime (lifetime prevalence = 20%). Pain research is a large field of research in neuroscience, in which tens of thousands of laboratory animals suffer and are killed in particularly stressful experiments.

We are supporting a project to develop a cell model of the peripheral nervous system. The model is based on sensitive and motor neurons in co-culture with Schwann cells (= sheath and support cells of nerve processes) established from human cells. The model will allow for studying damage, symptoms and regeneration mechanisms of the peripheral nervous system mechanistically as well as electrophysiologically without animal experiments.