Behavioral Core B

Project summary The overarching goal of the Chicago Center on Musculoskeletal Pain (C-COMP) is to foster and support research and training aimed at understanding the mechanisms underlying pain in musculoskeletal (MSK) disease, with the ultimate goal of better managing and preventing it. Assessment of disease-specific pain- related behaviors and other somatosensory changes in appropriate preclinical models of rheumatic and MSK diseases is one of the cornerstones for the study of mechanisms underlying pain associated with these diseases, necessary for the development of new therapeutics for MSK pain. The Behavioral Core B will support this goal by providing unique resources, world class expertise, and effective training to assess behavioral changes in animal models of MSK and rheumatic diseases. We will capitalize on our combined expertise in models of osteoarthritis and other MSK diseases, and we will engage world class experts in rodent pain behaviors to provide continued guidance. This approach will support much needed high-quality research and training in this field and will facilitate a more wide-spread use of appropriate behavioral measures as outcomes in preclinical studies of MSK disease. Such a service is a prerequisite for exploring mechanisms underlying pain associated with MSK diseases, and for increasing the translational utility of animal models. Ultimately, we expect that choosing the right behaviors in the right models will aid the development of novel, safe, and efficacious analgesics. The behavioral assays offered in Core B have been chosen to synergize with Neurobiology Core C, which will further enable mechanistic evaluation of pain pathways. Our own combined cumulative experience and established innovation and international leadership in the behavioral characterization of rodent models of MSK diseases provides us with unique qualifications to advise and support researchers about the most efficient strategies to evaluate behavioral changes in MSK models. The Core will achieve its objectives through the following aims: Aim 1. Establish a centralized resource to facilitate behavioral assays in MSK disease models. We will provide a full panel of behavioral assays that cover all types of somatosensory changes. The Core will provide hands-on training in animal behavioral testing, customized protocols, equipment, and testing space. Aim 2. Provide a consultation service, and a customized, full-service option for applying behavioral testing to preclinical models of arthritis and MSK disease. The Core will provide scientific guidance for the design of studies and consulting services on how to apply behavioral testing to MSK models. The Core will provide technical expertise to make customized, full- service behavioral testing options available to laboratories, including labs outside of Chicago. Aim 3. Train the research community in evaluating behavioral changes in models of arthritis and other MSK diseases. We will provide both in person and virtual training, present seminars and develop educational material to enhance Center investigators’ understanding of how to integrate behavioral testing into their laboratories.