Ying-Zhi Deng, Yu-Chen Lu, Wei-Wei Wu, Li Cheng, Gui-Ying Zan, Jing-Rui Chai, Yu-Jun Wang, Zhong Chen, Jing-Gen Liu
Author Information
Ying-Zhi Deng: Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China.
Yu-Chen Lu: Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China.
Wei-Wei Wu: Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China.
Li Cheng: Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, 310053, China.
Gui-Ying Zan: Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.
Jing-Rui Chai: Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.
Yu-Jun Wang: Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China. Electronic address: yjwang@mail.simm.ac.cn.
Zhong Chen: Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, 310053, China.
Jing-Gen Liu: Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China; Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, 310053, China.
Itch is an unpleasant feeling that triggers scratching behavior. Much progress has been made in identifying the mechanism of Itch at the peripheral and spinal levels, however, Itch circuits in the brain remain largely unexplored. We previously found that anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) to dorsal medial striatum (DMS) inputs modulated histamine-induced Itch sensation, but how Itch information was transmitted to ACC remained unclear. Here, we demonstrated that the anteromedial thalamic nucleus (AM) was activated during histaminergic Itch, and there existed reciprocal neuronal projections between AM and ACC. Disconnection between AM and ACC resulted in a significant reduction of histaminergic, but not nonhistaminergic, Itch-related scratching behavior. Optogenetic activation of AM-ACC, but not ACC-AM, projections evoked histaminergic Itch sensation. Thus, our studies firstly reveal that AM is critical for histaminergic Itch sensation and AM-ACC projections modulate histaminergic Itch-induced scratching behavior.
