近日，美国哈佛医学院
研究人员报告称，依赖Piezo2的机械感受介导了由水滴或油滴施加到小鼠背部毛皮而引发的甩水行为。无髓鞘的C型低阈值机械感受器（C-LTMR）会被油滴激活，其光遗传学激活引发甩水行为。去除C-LTMR会减弱这种行为。
此外，C-LTMR与脊髓-旁臂核神经元在突触上耦合，并且光遗传学抑制脊髓-旁臂核神经元突触和旁臂核内的兴奋性神经元会削弱由油滴和C-LTMR引发的甩水行为。因此，C-LTMR-脊髓-旁臂核通路促进了甩水行为，以去除背部毛皮上的水分和机械刺激物。
据了解，许多多毛哺乳动物通过快速摆动身体，即甩水行为，来去除背部毛皮上的水分和刺激物。这种行为背后的躯体感觉机制尚不清楚。
附：英文原文
Title: C-LTMRs evoke wet dog shakes via the spinoparabrachial pathway
Author: Dawei Zhang, Josef Turecek, Seungwon Choi, Michelle Delisle, Caroline Leal Pamplona, Shan Meltzer, David D. Ginty
Issue&Volume: 2024-11-08
Abstract: Many hairy mammals perform rapid oscillations of their body, called wet dog shakes, to remove water and irritants from their back hairy skin. The somatosensory mechanisms that underlie this behavior are unclear. We report that Piezo2-dependent mechanosensation mediates wet dog shakes evoked by water or oil droplets applied to back hairy skin of mice. Unmyelinated C-fiber low-threshold mechanoreceptors (C-LTMRs) were activated by oil droplets, and their optogenetic activation elicited wet dog shakes. Ablation of C-LTMRs attenuated this behavior. Moreover, C-LTMRs synaptically couple to spinoparabrachial neurons, and optogenetically inhibiting spinoparabrachial neuron synapses and excitatory neurons in the parabrachial nucleus impaired both oil droplet– and C-LTMR–evoked wet dog shakes. Thus, a C-LTMR–spinoparabrachial pathway promotes wet dog shakes for removal of water and mechanical irritants from back hairy skin.
DOI: adq8834
Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adq8834