Ih current stabilizes excitability in rodent DRG neurons and reverses hyperexcitability in a nociceptive neuron model of inherited neuropathic pain

Abstract We show here that hyperpolarization‐activated current ( I h ) unexpectedly acts to inhibit the activity of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons expressing WT Nav1.7, the largest inward current and primary driver of DRG neuronal firing, and hyperexcitable DRG neurons expressing a gain‐of‐function Nav1.7 mutation that causes inherited erythromelalgia (IEM), a human genetic model of neuropathic pain. In this study we created a kinetic model of I h and used it, in combination with dynamic‐clamp, to study I h function in DRG neurons. We show, for the first time, that I h increases rheobase and reduces the firing probability in small DRG neurons, and demonstrate that the amplitude of subthreshold oscillations is reduced by I h . Our results show that I h , due to slow gating, is not deactivated during action potentials (APs) and has a striking damping action, which reverses from depolarizing to hyperpolarizing, close to the threshold for AP generation. Moreover, we show that I h reverses the hyperexcitability of DRG neurons expressing a gain‐of‐function Nav1.7 mutation that causes IEM. In the aggregate, our results show that I h unexpectedly has strikingly different effects in DRG neurons as compared to previously‐ and well‐studied cardiac cells. Within DRG neurons where Nav1.7 is present, I h reduces depolarizing sodium current inflow due to enhancement of Nav1.7 channel fast inactivation and creates additional damping action by reversal of I h direction from depolarizing to hyperpolarizing close to the threshold for AP generation. These actions of I h limit the firing of DRG neurons expressing WT Nav1.7 and reverse the hyperexcitability of DRG neurons expressing a gain‐of‐function Nav1.7 mutation that causes IEM. image Key points Hyperpolarization‐activated cyclic nucleotide‐gated (HCN) channels, the molecular determinants of hyperpolarization‐activated current ( I h ) have been characterized as a ‘pain pacemaker’, and thus considered to be a potential molecular target for pain therapeutics. Dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons express Nav1.7, a channel that is not present in central neurons or cardiac tissue. Gain‐of‐function mutations (GOF) of Nav1.7 identified in inherited erythromelalgia (IEM), a human genetic model of neuropathic pain, produce DRG neuron hyperexcitability, which in turn produces severe pain. We found that I h increases rheobase and reduces firing probability in small DRG neurons expressing WT Nav1.7, and demonstrate that the amplitude of subthreshold oscillations is reduced by I h . We also demonstrate that I h reverses the hyperexcitability of DRG neurons expressing a GOF Nav1.7 mutation (L858H) that causes IEM. Our results show that, in contrast to cardiac cells and CNS neurons, I h acts to stabilize DRG neuron excitability and prevents excessive firing.