Papers of the Week

Chronic itch is a debilitating symptom of inflammatory skin diseases, but the underlying mechanism is poorly understood. We have recently demonstrated that astrocytes in the spinal dorsal horn become reactive in models of atopic and contact dermatitis via activation of the transcription factor STAT3 and critically contribute to chronic itch. In general, STAT3 is transiently activated; however, STAT3 activation in reactive astrocytes of chronic itch model mice persistently occurs via an unknown mechanism.