2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
A new approach for the understand of neural mechanisms underlying the intractable pruritus
| Project/Area Number |
15K15202
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Field |
Pain science
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| Research Institution | Okayama University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
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| Keywords | ガストリン放出ペプチド (GRP) / GRP受容体 / 痒み / 難治性掻痒症 / 霊長類 / 遺伝子改変ラット / 脊髄 / 三叉神経系 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Itch or pruritus has been defined as an unpleasant sensation of the skin that provokes the urge to scratch in order to relieve the stress of itch. Itch followed by scratching worsens skin inflammation, inducing an itch-scratch cycle. Important findings have recently demonstrated that spinal itch transmission is independent of pain transmission and relies on gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP)/GRP receptor signalling in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, as well as in the trigeminal sensory system in the medulla oblongata. We have recently generated a transgenic rat expressing the red fluorescent protein under control of the GRPR promoter. In this study, we used this transgenic rat model to examine the GRPR system in vivo in rodents. On the other hand, macaque monkeys appear to be an excellent model because they are close primate relatives to humans. Therefore, in this study, we also worked to identify this GRP system in primates using the Japanese macaque monkey (Macaca fuscata).
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| Free Research Field |
神経内分泌学・神経解剖学
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