{"id":6405,"date":"2015-10-29T17:50:48","date_gmt":"2015-10-30T00:50:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vermont.salk.edu\/?post_type=disclosure&p=6405"},"modified":"2024-01-30T15:41:39","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T23:41:39","slug":"to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem","status":"publish","type":"disclosure","link":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/news-release\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"To scratch an itch is a hairy problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nLA JOLLA\u2013An insect lands on your arm, moving the tiny hairs on your skin just enough to make you want to scratch. Salk Institute researchers have uncovered evidence of a dedicated neural pathway that transmits the itchy feeling triggered by such a light touch.\n<\/p>\n

\nSurprisingly, the spinal neurons involved in the tingling sensation caused by a light touch are different from those transmitting pain or a \u2018chemical\u2019 itch, the latter elicited by a mosquito bite or a skin wound that is healing.\n<\/p>\n

\nAppearing October 30, 2015 in the journal \u79d1\u5b66<\/a><\/em>, the new results lend insights into potential mechanisms of chronic itch, which is caused by a variety of conditions such as eczema, diabetic neuropathy, multiple sclerosis and certain types of cancers. It may also help explain why some people affected by itch are unresponsive to commonly used antihistamine drugs.\n<\/p>\n

\"Dorsal<\/p>\n

A cross-section of a mouse dorsal spinal cord shows the close relationship between inhibitory interneurons expressing NPY (red), with touch sensory neurons arising from the hairy skin (green).<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> for a high-resolution image.<\/p>\n

\nImage: Courtesy of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\u201cThis is the first study that reveals the presence of a dedicated neural pathway for this particular sensation in the spinal cord,\u201d says co-senior author and Salk Professor Martyn Goulding<\/a>. Overactivation of this pathway, which most likely evolved to detect the presence of disease-bearing insects on the skin, results in increased scratching akin to that seen in patients who develop chronic itch.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe spinal cord contains a variety of neurons called interneurons or \u201cmiddlemen\u201d that process and relay sensory information from the body including the skin. The team found that some of these \u201cmiddlemen\u201d express a small protein called neuropeptide Y, or NPY for short. This neurotransmitter is present throughout the brain and has several functions, but until now, no one knew what NPY neurons did in the spinal cord.\n<\/p>\n

\nIn the new study, Goulding\u2019s team, working with researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute<\/a>, selectively eliminated the NPY neurons in the spinal cord of adult mice. Within a week, of removing those inhibitory interneurons from the spinal cord, the mice showed excessive scratching in response to light touch without any effect on their response to chemically-induced itch or pain.\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThis was one of the most surprising things we found,\u201d says co-lead author Steeve Bourane, a Salk research scientist in Goulding\u2019s lab. The group saw similar behaviors when they used a chemical genetic strategy to silence the NPY expressing interneurons that prevents them from communicating with the presumptive neurons that transmit this form of itch.\n<\/p>\n

\"Martyn<\/p>\n

\nMartyn Goulding and Steeve Bourane<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> for a high-resolution image.<\/p>\n

\nImage: Courtesy of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\nThe fact that the NPY-deficient mice were no more sensitive than controls to more forceful forms of touch and painful stimuli, or even to chemicals that evoke itchiness, suggests light touch uses its own pathway in the nervous system to evoke scratching.\n<\/p>\n

\nInterestingly, by recording the electrical activity in the spinal cords of mice depleted of NPY interneurons, the researchers discovered that the NPY neurons seem to selectively inhibit or gate light touch signals coming from hairy skin, but not the non-hairy (glabrous) skin, such as the skin found on your palm. \u201cThat means there\u2019s probably two different spinal touch sensory circuits, one for the glabrous skin and one for the hairy skin,\u201d Bourane says.\n<\/p>\n

\nA Cell<\/a><\/em> study published by Goulding\u2019s group earlier this year<\/a> identified another player in the light-touch circuit: ROR\u03b1 neurons. The scientists are pursuing additional studies to map the entire chain of neurons that activate scratching in response to light touch\u2013something that has been overlooked in the field of chronic itch until now, the team says.\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIn the future, maybe we can specifically manipulate or modify the activity of these neurons to help people with chronic itch,\u201d Bourane adds.\n<\/p>\n

\nOther authors on the study include co-lead author Bo Duan and co-corresponding author Qiufu Ma of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School<\/a>; Stephanie Koch, Antoine Dalet, Olivier Britz and Lidia Garcia-Campmany of the Salk Institute; Euiseok Kim and Anirvan Ghosh of the University of California, San Diego<\/a>; and Longzhen Cheng of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Fudan University<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health<\/a>, the Caterina Foundation and the Gatsby Charitable Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":6410,"template":"","faculty":[75],"disease-research":[124],"class_list":["post-6405","disclosure","type-disclosure","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","faculty-martyn-goulding","disease-research-neuroscience-and-neurological-disorders"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTo scratch an itch is a hairy problem - Salk Institute for Biological Studies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/news-release\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"zh_CN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"To scratch an itch is a hairy problem - Salk Institute for Biological Studies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LA JOLLA\u2013An insect lands on your arm, moving the tiny hairs on your skin just enough to make you want to scratch. Salk Institute researchers have uncovered evidence of a dedicated neural pathway that transmits the itchy feeling triggered by such a light touch.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/news-release\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Salk Institute for Biological Studies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-30T23:41:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2128.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"180\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"180\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/news-release\\\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/news-release\\\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\\\/\",\"name\":\"To scratch an itch is a hairy problem - Salk Institute for Biological Studies\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/news-release\\\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/news-release\\\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/10\\\/2128.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-10-30T00:50:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-30T23:41:39+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/news-release\\\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"zh-CN\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/news-release\\\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"zh-CN\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/news-release\\\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/10\\\/2128.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/10\\\/2128.jpg\",\"width\":180,\"height\":180},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/news-release\\\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"To scratch an itch is a hairy problem\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/\",\"name\":\"Salk Institute for Biological Studies\",\"description\":\"The Power of Science\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"zh-CN\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Salk Institute for Biological Studies\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"zh-CN\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/salk_logo_696.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/salk_logo_696.jpg\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"Salk Institute for Biological Studies\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.salk.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"To scratch an itch is a hairy problem - Salk Institute for Biological Studies","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/news-release\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\/","og_locale":"zh_CN","og_type":"article","og_title":"To scratch an itch is a hairy problem - Salk Institute for Biological Studies","og_description":"LA JOLLA\u2013An insect lands on your arm, moving the tiny hairs on your skin just enough to make you want to scratch. Salk Institute researchers have uncovered evidence of a dedicated neural pathway that transmits the itchy feeling triggered by such a light touch.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/news-release\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\/","og_site_name":"Salk Institute for Biological Studies","article_modified_time":"2024-01-30T23:41:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":180,"height":180,"url":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2128.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/news-release\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\/","url":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/news-release\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\/","name":"To scratch an itch is a hairy problem - Salk Institute for Biological Studies","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/news-release\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/news-release\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2128.jpg","datePublished":"2015-10-30T00:50:48+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-30T23:41:39+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/news-release\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"zh-CN","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/news-release\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"zh-CN","@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/news-release\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2128.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2128.jpg","width":180,"height":180},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/news-release\/to-scratch-an-itch-is-a-hairy-problem\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"To scratch an itch is a hairy problem"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/","name":"\u7d22\u5c14\u514b\u751f\u7269\u7814\u7a76\u6240","description":"The Power of Science","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"zh-CN"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/#organization","name":"\u7d22\u5c14\u514b\u751f\u7269\u7814\u7a76\u6240","url":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"zh-CN","@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/salk_logo_696.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/salk_logo_696.jpg","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"Salk Institute for Biological Studies"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"ACF":{"hero":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2128-Dorsal-spinal-cord-header.jpg","line_1":"To scratch an itch is a hairy problem","line_2":"Salk researchers shed light on why brushing movements on our hairy skin make us scratch","gallery":false,"paper_url":"http:\/\/www.sciencemag.org\/content\/350\/6260\/550.abstract","journal_title":"Science","paper_author_list":"Steeve Bourane, Bo Duan, Stephanie C. Koch, Antoine Dalet, Olivier Britz, Lidia Garcia-Campmany, Euiseok Kim, Longzhen Cheng, Anirvan Ghosh, Qiufu Ma, Martyn Goulding","paper_title":"Gate control of mechanical itch by a subpopulation of spinal cord interneurons","subhead":"Salk researchers shed light on why brushing movements on our hairy skin make us scratch","home_photo":"","listing_photo":"","legacy_boilerplate":[],"poster_quote":"","doi":"","hide_boilerplate":[],"disable_date":false,"listing_excerpt":"","descriptive_blurb":"","has_journal_cover":false,"og_image_override":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/disclosure\/6405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/disclosure"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/disclosure"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/disclosure\/6405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47120,"href":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/disclosure\/6405\/revisions\/47120"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"faculty","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faculty?post=6405"},{"taxonomy":"disease-research","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/disease-research?post=6405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}