Zhu et al. (2022) showed that streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type I diabetes results in the sustained upregulation of chemokine CXC receptor 4 (CXCR4) and Cx43 in both astrocytes and neurons. The continuous increase in CXCR4 expression might induce neuronal excitability, whereas Cx43 might mediate intercellular inflammatory signaling so that dysfunctional astrocytes cannot counteract inflammatory factors during the late phase of diabetes, which leads to the occurrence and aggravation of diabetic neuropathic pain (DNP) (Zhu et al., 2022). The gene discussed is GJA1; the disease is type 1 diabetes mellitus.