Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Deng, Juan
• Zhou, Hua
• Lin, Jun-Kai
• Shen, Zi-Xuan
• Chen, Wen-Zhen
• Wang, Lin-Han
• Li, Qing
• Mu, Di
• Wei, Yi-Chao
• Xu, Xiao-Hong
• Sun, Yan-Gang

Titel

The Parabrachial Nucleus Directly Channels Spinal Nociceptive Signals to the Intralaminar Thalamic Nuclei, but Not the Amygdala

Ist Teil von

• Neuron (Cambridge, Mass.), 2020-09, Vol.107 (5), p.909-923.e6

Ort / Verlag

Cambridge: Elsevier Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2020

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The parabrachial nucleus (PBN) is one of the major targets of spinal projection neurons and plays important roles in pain. However, the architecture of the spinoparabrachial pathway underlying its functional role in nociceptive information processing remains elusive. Here, we report that the PBN directly relays nociceptive signals from the spinal cord to the intralaminar thalamic nuclei (ILN). We demonstrate that the spinal cord connects with the PBN in a bilateral manner and that the ipsilateral spinoparabrachial pathway is critical for nocifensive behavior. We identify Tacr1-expressing neurons as the major neuronal subtype in the PBN that receives direct spinal input and show that these neurons are critical for processing nociceptive information. Furthermore, PBN neurons receiving spinal input form functional monosynaptic excitatory connections with neurons in the ILN, but not the amygdala. Together, our results delineate the neural circuit underlying nocifensive behavior, providing crucial insight into the circuit mechanism underlying nociceptive information processing. [Display omitted] •The ipsi- and contralateral spinoparabrachial pathways are functionally distinct•The ipsilateral spinoparabrachial pathway mediates nocifensive behavior•Tacr1+ neurons in the PBN represent the major target of spinal projection•The PBN relays nociceptive information to the ILN via glutamatergic synapses Deng et al. demonstrate that the ipsilateral spinoparabrachial pathway mediates nocifensive behavior and identify that the Tacr1+ neurons in the parabrachial nucleus represent the major target of the spinal projection. The authors also reveal the major downstream pathway for processing nociceptive information.