ArticleNature communications2020
nNOS-expressing neurons in the vmPFC transform pPVT-derived chronic pain signals into anxiety behaviors.
Article in Nature communications, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers.
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Who cites it
51 citing papers in PubMed, 82 citations in OpenAlex.
- Deep brain stimulation mechanisms in comorbid pain and emotional dysregulation from animal models.iScience · 2026Review
- Excitatory paraventricular thalamus-posterior insular cortex circuit mediates pain-anxiety comorbidity in diabetic neuropathy.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Article
- A brainstem-thalamocortical circuit mediates postoperative pain duration induced by sleep deprivation.Behavioral and brain functions : BBF · 2026Article
- Osteoclast-Derived SLIT3 Mediates Osteoarthritis Pain and Degenerative Changes.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- 5-HT2C receptors in the glutamatergic neurons of dorsal raphe nucleus orchestrate the comorbidity of pain and anxiety in mice.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- Bioinformatics-based identification of potential genes in the thalamus associated with chronic orofacial and somatic inflammatory pain.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Article
- Recent progress in chronic pain-related negative emotions and cognitive dysfunction: insights into the mechanisms underlying neural circuitry.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2026Review
- A Brainstem-Thalamic-Cortex Glutamatergic Neuron Pathway Modulates Propofol Anesthesia.Drug design, development and therapy · 2026Article
- Dysfunction of the paraventricular thalamus-prelimbic cortex circuit underlies maternal separation-induced deficits in contagious pain.Science advances · 2025Article
- [A neural circuit from paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus oxytocin neurons to trigeminal nucleus caudalis GABAergic neurons modulates pain sensitization in a mouse model of chronic migraine].Zhejiang da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Zhejiang University. Medical sciences · 2025Article
- nNOS-expressing neurons in the mPFC mediate depression-related behaviors in mice through pPVT-mPFC projections.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Patterns and predictors of tooth extraction-related anxiety at sequential perioperative stages.BMC oral health · 2025Article
- PSD-95 Protein: A Promising Therapeutic Target in Chronic Pain.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Review
- Untangling dopamine and glutamate in the ventral tegmental area.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Distinct Roles of Astrocytes and GABAergic Neurons in the Paraventricular Thalamic Nucleus in Modulating Diabetic Neuropathic Pain.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Dopamine dynamics in chronic pain: music-induced, sex-dependent, behavioral effects in mice.Pain reports · 2025Article
- Chronic Pain and Comorbid Emotional Disorders: Neural Circuitry and Neuroimmunity Pathways.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Wheel-Running Exercise Alleviates Anxiety-Like Behavior via Down-Regulating S-Nitrosylation of Gephyrin in the Basolateral Amygdala of Male Rats.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2024Article
- A thalamic nucleus reuniens-lateral septum-lateral hypothalamus circuit for comorbid anxiety-like behaviors in chronic itch.Science advances · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Anxiety is common in patients suffering from chronic pain. Here, we report anxiety-like behaviors in mouse models of chronic pain and reveal that nNOS-expressing neurons in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) are essential for pain-induced anxiety but not algesia, using optogenetic and chemogenetic strategies. Additionally, we determined that excitatory projections from the posterior subregion of paraventricular thalamic nucleus (pPVT) provide a neuronal input that drives the activation of vmPFC nNOS-expressing neurons in our chronic pain models. Our results suggest that the pain signal becomes an anxiety signal after activation of vmPFC nNOS-expressing neurons, which causes subsequent release of nitric oxide (NO). Finally, we show that the downstream molecular mechanisms of NO likely involve enhanced glutamate transmission in vmPFC CaMKIIα-expressing neurons through S-nitrosylation-induced AMPAR trafficking. Overall, our data suggest that pPVT excitatory neurons drive chronic pain-induced anxiety through activation of vmPFC nNOS-expressing neurons, resulting in NO-mediated AMPAR trafficking in vmPFC pyramidal neurons.
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