Background Proinflammatory mediators including COX-2, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, play major roles in the initiation of postsurgical pain. Produced primarily by activated macrophages and microglia, these mediators drive hyperexcitation of nociceptors and promote peripheral and central pain sensitization. Post-transcriptional RNA regulation is a major control point for these mediators, centering around adenine- and uridine-rich ele...

Tristetraprolin (TTP), encoded by Zfp36 in mice, is one of the best-characterized tandem zinc-finger mRNA binding proteins involved in mRNA deadenylation and decay. TTPΔARE mice lack an AU-rich motif in the 3′-untranslated regions of TTP mRNA, leading to increased TTP mRNA stability and more TTP protein, resulting in elevated mRNA decay rates of TTP targets. We examined the effect of TTP overexpression on the hematopoietic sys...