Itch and pain are two distinct sensations. Although our previous study suggested that gastrinreleasing peptide receptor (GRPR) is an itch-specific gene in the spinal cord, a long-standing question of whether there are separate neuronal pathways for itch and pain remains unsettled. Here we selectively ablated lamina I neurons expressing GRPR in the spinal cord of mice. These mice showed profound scratching deficits in response to all of the itching (pruritogenic) stimuli tested, irrespective of their histamine-dependence. In contrast, pain behaviors were unaffected. Our data also suggest that GRPR + neurons are different from the spinothalamic tract (STT) neurons which have been the focus of the debate. Together, the present study suggests that GRPR + neurons constitute a long-sought labeled line for itch sensation in the spinal cord.Itch has long been considered to be a sub-modality or sub-quality of pain (1-4), because both sensations share many similarities (5). Whether itch and pain, two distinct sensations, are mediated by distinct neural circuits has been the subject of controversy (6-8). In the spinal cord, arguments for the "labeled line" came from electrophysiological recordings in cat showing the presence of a small subset of histamine-responsive, mechanically, thermally and mustard oil insensitive lamina I STT neurons (9). Recent studies in primates, however, found that histamine-sensitive STT neurons were all responsive to noxious mechanical and chemical stimuli, notably capsaicin, arguing against the "labeled line" for itch (10,11). Although our previous data suggested that GRPR is an itch-specific gene in the spinal cord (12), they could not be extrapolated to imply that GRPR + neurons are itch-specific, simply because neurons expressing one sensory modality-specific gene may also express other sensory modalityspecific genes as often seen in sensory neurons (13). One way to address this issue is to selectively ablate a subset of itch-signaling neurons and assess whether pain behaviors are altered in the absence of these neurons. We selectively ablated GRPR + neurons in the spinal cord of mice by intrathecal administration of bombesin-saporin (bombesin-sap), a toxincoupled to bombesin that binds with high affinity to GRPR and results in GRPR internalization and cell death ( fig.S1) (14,15).We first determined the optimal dose and time course of bombesin-sap treatment. Ablation of GRPR + neurons reduced pruritogen-induced scratching behaviors in a dose-dependent manner ( fig. S2). Most of GRPR + neurons (>75%) were lost two weeks after single intrathecal injection of bombesin-sap (400 ng, Fig. 1. A to C). To determine the specificity of bombesin-sap treatment, we analyzed several subpopulations of neurons in the spinal cord by using laminaspecific molecular markers. Expression of neuromedin U receptor 2 (NMUR2) and prodynorphin was not affected in lamina I of mice treated with bombesin-sap ( Fig. 1. D We next examined scratching behaviors of mice treated with bombesin-sap in response to intradermal i...

Netrins are a family of secreted molecules that are important for axonal outgrowth and guidance in the developing nervous system. However, the signaling mechanisms that lie immediately downstream of netrin receptors remain poorly understood. Here we report that the netrin receptor DCC (deleted in colorectal cancer) interacts with the focal adhesion kinase (FAK), a kinase implicated in regulating cell adhesion and migration. FAK was expressed in developing brains and was localized with DCC in cultured neurons. Netrin-1 induced FAK and DCC tyrosine phosphorylation. Disruption of FAK signaling abolished netrin-1-induced neurite outgrowth and attractive growth cone turning. Taken together, these results indicate a new signaling mechanism for DCC, in which FAK is activated upon netrin-1 stimulation and mediates netrin-1 function; they also identify a critical role for FAK in axon navigation.

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The differentiation and migration of superficial dorsal horn neurons and subsequent ingrowth of cutaneous afferents are crucial events in the formation of somatosensory circuitry in the dorsal spinal cord. We report that the differentiation and migration of the superficial dorsal horn neurons are regulated by the LIM homeobox gene Lmx1b, and its downstream targets Rnx and Drg11, two transcription factors implicated in the development of dorsal horn circuitry. An analysis of Lmx1b mutants shows that Lmx1b normally acts to maintain the expression of the Ebf genes and to repress the Zic genes. Lmx1b mutants also exhibit the disruption of the cutaneous afferent ingrowth, suggesting that the dorsal horn cells might provide important cues guiding sensory axons into the dorsal spinal cord. Our results thus indicate that Lmx1b has a pivotal role in genetic cascades that control the assembly of circuitry in the superficial dorsal horn.