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Supporting itch: a new role for astrocytes in chronic itch

Nature Medicine volume 21, pages 841–842 (2015)Cite this article

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A new study shows that astrocytes are involved in the development of chronic itch in a mouse model. This is dependent on upregulation of lipocalin 2 (LCN2) by the transcription factor STAT-3 and astrogliosis.

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Figure 1: Astrogliosis contributes to chronic itch.

Marina Corral Spence/Nature Publishing Group

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dustin Green is in the Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Department of Neurosurgery, Department of Dermatology and Center for Sensory Biology, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.,

    Dustin Green

  2. Xinzhong Dong is in the Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Department of Neurosurgery, Department of Dermatology, Center for Sensory Biology and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.,

    Xinzhong Dong

Authors
  1. Dustin Green
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  2. Xinzhong Dong
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Correspondence to Dustin Green or Xinzhong Dong.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Green, D., Dong, X. Supporting itch: a new role for astrocytes in chronic itch. Nat Med 21, 841–842 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3921

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