| First Author | Zhang D | Year | 2024 |
| Journal | bioRxiv | PubMed ID | 38915692 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:353123 | Mgi Id | MGI:7709662 |
| Doi | 10.1101/2024.06.10.597395 | Citation | Zhang D, et al. (2024) C-LTMRs mediate wet dog shakes via the spinoparabrachial pathway. bioRxiv |
| abstractText | Mammals perform rapid oscillations of their body- "wet dog shakes" -to remove water and irritants from their back hairy skin. The somatosensory mechanisms underlying this stereotypical behavior are unknown. We report that Piezo2-dependent mechanosensation mediates wet dog shakes evoked by water or oil droplets applied to hairy skin of mice. Unmyelinated low-threshold mechanoreceptors (C-LTMRs) were strongly 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 (SPB) neurons, and optogenetically inhibiting SPB 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 mediates wet dog shakes for rapid and effective removal of foreign particles from back hairy skin. |
