Scientists Find "Itch Circuit" in Mice

[JBeukema]

Now, neuroscientist Zhou-Feng Chen of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, and colleagues believe they have found the most compelling evidence yet for an itch labeled line. Two years ago, the group discovered a gene necessary for itch, but not pain, called the gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRPR). In the new study, Chen and colleagues tried to figure out if cells expressing GRPR were the long-sought itch-only neurons. So they selectively killed GRPR cells in mice spines with a toxin called saporin tethered to a peptide that targets GRPR proteins. After 2 weeks, they had destroyed more than 75% of GRPR neurons.

Scientists Find "Itch Circuit" in Mice -- Torrice 2009 (806): 3 -- ScienceNOW