Grant: Project Grant

Neurons that transmit painful information and cells of the immune system extensively communicate. My work revealed that, in the context of diseases such as allergy, this reciprocal interaction is, unexpectedly, often deleterious. In addition to standard genetic techniques, I have developed a highly targeted, and long-lasting approach to block the electrical activity of inflammation-activated pain neurons. My work aims to assess the extent of the neuronal and immune cross-communication in allergy and to test whether pharmacological or genetic interruption of this interplay helps resolve inflammation and relieve these pathologies. Using this strategy, I have revealed a novel therapeutic target in the treatment of chronic airway inflammation, which needs further characterization. As such, I showed that lung neurons can detect, through a protein named FceR1, a specific class of antibody important in allergies. Here, I will further characterize this crosstalk by highlighting the molecular drivers of FceR1 on lung pain neurons, the proteins partnering with FceR1, and the physiological consequences of allergen sensing by these neurons. Altogether, this work should shed light on an unexpected aspect of pain neuron biology, reveal innovative ways on how the nervous and immune systems communicate and provide molecular insight on how to prevent the onset of allergies.