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TY - JOUR AU - Sun, Yan-Gang AU - Chen, Zhou-Feng PY - 2007 DA - 2007/08/01 TI - A gastrin-releasing peptide receptor mediates the itch sensation in the spinal cord JO - Nature SP - 700 EP - 703 VL - 448 IS - 7154 AB - The unpleasant sense of itching, or pruritus, is well known, but its neurobiological basis has remained elusive. Now the first molecular player in the 'itch pathway' has been identified. Historically, itch has been regarded as a less intense variant of the pain sensation. But work with knockout mice shows that the 'gastrin-releasing peptide receptor' is important for communication of itchy, but not painful, stimuli to the central nervous system. This receptor could therefore be a target for the development of antipruritic drugs that do not affect pain signalling. SN - 1476-4687 UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06029 DO - 10.1038/nature06029 ID - Sun2007 ER -