A Tac1-Expressing Brainstem Pathway Underlies the Pathogenesis of Trigeminal Neuralgia - PubMed
7 hours ago
- #Neural Circuit
- #Pain Hypersensitivity
- #Trigeminal Neuralgia
- Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a severe pain disorder affecting patients' quality of life.
- A neural circuit involving Tac1-expressing neurons in the parabrachial nucleus (PBN) and spinal trigeminal nucleus (Sp5C) is identified as key to TN pathogenesis.
- Chemogenetic inhibition of PBNTac1 neurons prevents TN development.
- PBNTac1 neurons receive projections from Sp5C neurons, which are crucial for TN-induced pain hypersensitivity.
- Sp5C neurons predominantly express Tac1, and knockdown of Tac1 in these neurons reduces pain hypersensitivity.
- Tac1-expressing Sp5C neurons relay signals from the trigeminal ganglion (TG) to the PBN, forming a TG-Sp5CTac1-PBNTac1 pathway driving TN.