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Neuroimmunology

No pain, all gain

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 18, pages 222–223 (2018)Cite this article

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Nociceptor sensory neurons in the lungs respond to harmful stimuli, including heat, injury, inflammation and irritants, to induce pain, coughing and bronchoconstriction. However, their role in pulmonary host defences against bacterial infection is unexplored. To study this, the authors first used Trpv1–Dtr mice, in which diphtheria toxin receptor (DTR) is expressed under control of the transient receptor potential cation channel V1 (TRPV1) regulatory sequences to cause depletion of TRPV1+ neurons on administration of diphtheria toxin (DT). Mice with TRPV1+ neuron depletion showed significantly longer survival and better maintenance of core body temperature after inoculation with a lethal dose of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). A similar protective effect was seen in mice treated with the high-affinity ligand for TRPV1 resiniferatoxin (RTX) to chemically ablate nociceptors.

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References

  1. Baral, P. et al. Nociceptor sensory neurons suppress neutrophil and γδ T cell responses in bacterial lung infections and lethal pneumonia. Nat. Med. https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.4501 (2018)

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  1. Lucy Bird
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Bird, L. No pain, all gain. Nat Rev Immunol 18, 222–223 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nri.2018.21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nri.2018.21

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