2. Academic Validation
  3. Green light induces antinociception via visual-somatosensory circuits

Green light induces antinociception via visual-somatosensory circuits

  • Cell Rep. 2023 Mar 21;42(4):112290. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112290.
Peng Cao 1,  Mingjun Zhang 2,  Ziyun Ni 2,  Xiang-Jie Song 2,  Chen-Ling Yang 3,  Yu Mao 4,  Wenjie Zhou 2,  Wan-Ying Dong 2,  Xiaoqi Peng 2,  Changjian Zheng 5,  Zhi Zhang 6,  Yan Jin 7,  Wenjuan Tao 8
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; Department of Biophysics and Neurobiology, Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease of Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China.
  • 2 Department of Biophysics and Neurobiology, Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease of Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China.
  • 3 Department of Physiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China.
  • 4 Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; Department of Anesthesiology and Department of Pain Management, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, PR China.
  • 5 Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College, Wuhu 241002, China.
  • 6 Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; Department of Biophysics and Neurobiology, Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease of Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 7 Department of Biophysics and Neurobiology, Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease of Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; Stroke Center and Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230036, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 8 Department of Physiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China; College & Hospital of Stomatology, Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases Research of Anhui Province, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 36947545 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112290
Abstract

LIGHT has been shown to relieve pain, but the underlying neural mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we show that low-intensity (200 lux) green LIGHT treatment exerts antinociceptive effects through a neural circuit from the visual cortex projecting to the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in mice. Specifically, viral tracing, in vivo two-photon calcium imaging, and fiber photometry recordings show that green LIGHT activated glutamatergic projections from the medial part of the secondary visual cortex (V2MGlu) to GABAergic neurons in the ACC, which drives inhibition of local glutamatergic neurons (V2MGlu→ACCGABA→Glu). Optogenetic or chemogenetic activation of the V2MGlu→ACCGABA→Glu circuit mimics green-light-induced antinociception in both neuropathic and inflammatory pain model mice. Artificial inhibition of ACC-projecting V2MGlu neurons abolishes the antinociception induced by green LIGHT. Taken together, our study shows the V2M-ACC circuit as a potential candidate mediating green-light-induced antinociceptive effects.

Keywords

CP: Neuroscience; anterior cingulate cortex; antinociception; light-induced antinociception; mice; neural circuits; optogenetics.

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