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May, 2023;39 (5): 793-807.

An Anterior Cingulate Cortex-to-Midbrain Projection Controls Chronic Itch in Mice.

Ting-Ting Zhang, Su-Shan Guo, Hui-Ying Wang, Qi Jing, Xin Yi, Zi-Han Hu, Xin-Ren Yu, Tian-Le Xu, Ming-Gang Liu, Xuan Zhao
Author Information
  1. Ting-Ting Zhang: Department of Anesthesiology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200072, China.
  2. Su-Shan Guo: Department of Anatomy and Physiology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China.
  3. Hui-Ying Wang: Department of Anesthesiology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200072, China.
  4. Qi Jing: Department of Anesthesiology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200072, China.
  5. Xin Yi: Department of Anatomy and Physiology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China.
  6. Zi-Han Hu: Department of Anesthesiology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200072, China.
  7. Xin-Ren Yu: Department of Anesthesiology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200072, China.
  8. Tian-Le Xu: Department of Anatomy and Physiology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China.
  9. Ming-Gang Liu: Department of Anatomy and Physiology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China. lmg11302000@126.com.
  10. Xuan Zhao: Department of Anesthesiology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200072, China. zhaoxuan1026@hotmail.com.
PMID: 36528690 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-022-00996-6

Abstract

itch is an unpleasant sensation that provokes the desire to scratch. While acute itch serves as a protective system to warn the body of external irritating agents, chronic itch is a debilitating but poorly-treated clinical disease leading to repetitive scratching and skin lesions. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of chronic itch remain mysterious. Here, we identified a cell type-dependent role of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in controlling chronic itch-related excessive scratching behaviors in mice. Moreover, we delineated a neural circuit originating from excitatory neurons of the ACC to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) that was critically involved in chronic itch. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the ACC���VTA circuit also selectively modulated histaminergic acute itch. Finally, the ACC neurons were shown to predominantly innervate the non-dopaminergic neurons of the VTA. Taken together, our findings uncover a cortex-midbrain circuit for chronic itch-evoked scratching behaviors and shed novel insights on therapeutic intervention.

Keywords

Anterior cingulate cortex Chemogenetics Chronic itch Neural circuit Ventral tegmental area

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MeSH Term

Mice
Animals
Gyrus Cinguli
Pruritus
Mesencephalon
Cerebral Cortex
Neurons
Journal Article
Article has an altmetric score of 12

Word Cloud

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