一种用于疼痛诱导瘙痒抑制的脑桥内神经回路。
An intra-brainstem circuitry for pain-induced inhibition of itch.
作者信息
Prajapati Jagat Narayan, Shah Devanshi Piyush, Barik Arnab
机构信息
Center for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru 560012, India.
Center for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru 560012, India.
出版信息
Neuroscience. 2025 Mar 5;568:95-107. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2025.01.008. Epub 2025 Jan 6.
Pain and itch are unpleasant and distinct sensations that give rise to behaviors such as reflexive withdrawal and scratching in humans and mice. Interestingly, it has been observed that pain modulates itch through the neural circuits housed in the brain and spinal cord. However, we have yet to fully understand the identities and mechanisms by which specific neural circuits mediate pain-induced modulation of itch. Independent studies indicate that brainstem nuclei such as the lateral parabrachial nucleus (LPBN), and rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM) are important for suppressing itch by noxious somatosensory stimuli. Here, using mouse and viral genetics, rabies tracing, chemogenetics, and calcium imaging, we show that the synaptic connections between LPBN and RVM play an instrumental role in the interactions between pain and itch. Notably, we found that the LPBN neurons that express the gene encoding the substance P receptor, Tacr1 (LPBN), synapse onto Tacr1-expressing RVM neurons (RVM). The RVM neurons were found to be nociceptive, sufficient for inhibiting itch, and necessary for pain-induced itch suppression. Moreover, through brain-wide anterograde and retrograde viral tracing studies, we found that the RVM neurons are bidirectionally connected with LPBN, periaqueductal gray (PAG), and lateral hypothalamic area (LHA). Thus, together, our data indicate that the RVM neurons integrate nociceptive information to mediate itch-induced scratching and can mediate the physiological effects of itch through their downstream targets.
疼痛和瘙痒是令人不适且截然不同的感觉,会引发人类和小鼠的诸如反射性退缩和抓挠等行为。有趣的是,据观察,疼痛可通过大脑和脊髓中的神经回路调节瘙痒。然而,我们尚未完全了解特定神经回路介导疼痛诱导的瘙痒调节的特性和机制。独立研究表明,诸如外侧臂旁核(LPBN)和延髓头端腹内侧核(RVM)等脑干核团对于通过有害的体感刺激抑制瘙痒很重要。在此,我们使用小鼠和病毒遗传学、狂犬病毒示踪、化学遗传学和钙成像技术,表明LPBN和RVM之间的突触连接在疼痛与瘙痒的相互作用中起重要作用。值得注意的是,我们发现表达速激肽受体编码基因Tacr1的LPBN神经元(LPBN)与表达Tacr1的RVM神经元(RVM)形成突触。我们发现RVM神经元具有伤害感受性,足以抑制瘙痒,并且是疼痛诱导的瘙痒抑制所必需的。此外,通过全脑顺行和逆行病毒示踪研究,我们发现RVM神经元与LPBN、导水管周围灰质(PAG)和下丘脑外侧区(LHA)双向连接。因此,我们的数据共同表明,RVM神经元整合伤害感受信息以介导瘙痒诱导的抓挠,并可通过其下游靶点介导瘙痒的生理效应。