Identification of a Spinal Circuit for Mechanical and Persistent Spontaneous Itch
Open accessAbstract
Lightly stroking the lips or gently poking some skin regions can evoke mechanical itch in healthy human subjects. Sensitization of mechanical itch and persistent spontaneous itch are intractable symptoms in chronic itch patients. However, the underlying neural circuits are not well defined. We identified a subpopulation of excitatory interneurons expressing Urocortin 3::Cre (Ucn3+) in the dorsal spinal cord as a central node in the pathway that transmits acute mechanical itch and mechanical itch sensitization as well as persistent spontaneous itch under chronic itch conditions. This population receives peripheral inputs from Toll-like receptor 5-positive (TLR5+) Aβ low-threshold mechanoreceptors and is directly innervated by inhibitory interneurons expressing neuropeptide Y::Cre (NPY+) in the dorsal spinal cord. Reduced synaptic inhibition and increased intrinsic excitability of Ucn3+ neurons lead to chronic itch sensitization. Our study sheds new light on the neural basis of chronic itch and unveils novel avenues for developing mechanism-specific therapeutic advancements.
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The Cpne4 dorsal excitatory family had markers of interneurons suggested to be involved in mechanical itch.
“This family had markers of interneurons suggested to be involved in mechanical itch46,47.”
From A harmonized atlas of mouse spinal cord cell types and their spatial organization (2021) · cites this paper as [47]
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- Authors
- Pan, H., Fatima, M., Li, A., Lee, H., Cai, W., Horwitz, L., Hor, C. C., Zaher, N., Cin, M., Slade, H., Huang, T., Xu, X. Z. S., & Duan, B.
- Affiliations
- Nanchang University (CN)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Duan, Bo
- Venue
- Neuron
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-09
- Volume
- 103
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1135-1149.e6
- ISSN
- 0896-6273 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6763390
- OpenAlex
- W2960539136
- Cited by
- 140
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 4
- FWCI
- 10.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Neuron (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Michigan
- National Institutes of Health (R01NS109170)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Dermatology › Dermatology and Skin Diseases
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Sensory Systems › Ion Channels and Receptors
- Keywords
- chronic pruritus, pruritus, dorsal spinal cord, urocortin 3, TLR5, neuropeptide Y, inhibitory interneurons, synaptic inhibition, intrinsic excitability, neural circuits
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Interneurons, Mechanoreceptors, Neural Inhibition, Neural Pathways, Neuropeptide Y, Physical Stimulation, Pruritus, Skin, Spinal Cord, Glutamic Acid, Toll-Like Receptor 5, Mice, Urocortins, Central Nervous System Sensitization
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