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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2024.06.10.597395

C-LTMRs mediate wet dog shakes via the spinoparabrachial pathway

Zhang, D.·Turecek, J.·Choi, S.·Delisle, M.·Pamplona, C. L.·Meltzer, S.·Ginty, D. D.
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Abstract

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.

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Zhang, D., Turecek, J., Choi, S., Delisle, M., Pamplona, C. L., Meltzer, S., Ginty, D. D.. 2024-06-11. C-LTMRs mediate wet dog shakes via the spinoparabrachial pathway. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.06.10.597395

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