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MINI REVIEW article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Molecular Innate Immunity
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1534389
This article is part of the Research Topic The Role of Ubiquitination in Disease Development, Progression, and Prognosis View all 8 articles

Exploring the role of ubiquitination modifications in migraine headaches

Provisionally accepted
Qian Zhu Qian Zhu 1,2Jin Yang Jin Yang 1,2*Lei Shi Lei Shi 1,2*Jieying Zhang Jieying Zhang 1,2Peng Zhang Peng Zhang 1,2*Junlong Li Junlong Li 1,2Xiaoli Song Xiaoli Song 1,2*
  • 1 First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nankai District, China
  • 2 National Clinical Research Center for Chinese Medicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Tianjin, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Migraine is a complex neurovascular disorder whose pathogenesis involves activation of the trigeminal vascular system, central and peripheral sensitization, and neuroinflammation. Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) plays a dominant role and activation of MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways regulates neuropeptide release, glial cell activation, and amplification of nociceptive signals. Aberrant activation of these pathways drives migraine onset and chronicity. The ubiquitinproteasome system (UPS) is involved in neurological and inflammatory disorders. ubiquitination in the UPS is achieved through a cascade of enzymes, including Ub-activating enzyme (E1), Ubcoupling enzyme (E2), and Ub-ligase (E3). The aim of this review is to systematically explore the role of ubiquitination in the regulation of MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways, with a focus on the mechanisms of ubiquitinating enzymes in neuroinflammation and pain signal amplification, and to explore their potential as diagnostics, biomarkers, predictors of response to therapy, and monitoring of chronicity in migraine disease.

    Keywords: Ubiquitination, Migraine, Inflammation, biomarker, central sensitization, peripheral sensitization

    Received: 25 Nov 2024; Accepted: 09 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Zhu, Yang, Shi, Zhang, Zhang, Li and Song. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Jin Yang, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nankai District, China
    Lei Shi, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nankai District, China
    Peng Zhang, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nankai District, China
    Xiaoli Song, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nankai District, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.