FCE News: Mayo Clinic

Publication from Mayo FCE in collaboration with University of Minnesota

Read the Publication here: https://cdn.ymaws.com/focisnet.site-ym.com/resource/resmgr/files/fce/mayo_clinic_-_j_hum_immun_2-.pdf

FCE News: Tolerance

New Study Reveals Distinct Neural Control of Itch and Skin Inflammation Researchers at the Toulouse Institute for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases, part of the TOLERANCE Focis Center of Excellence, have uncovered how distinct populations of sensory neurons independently regulate two major features of contact dermatitis: skin inflammation and itch. Published in Immunity (PMID: 41990747), the study was conducted in Nicolas Gaudenzio’s lab, with the research led by Lilian Basso and first-authored by Tiphaine Voisin. By combining single-cell analyses with genetic and pharmacological approaches, the team identified specialized populations of nociceptors, sensory neurons that detect harmful stimuli in the skin. Peptidergic nociceptors were found to limit skin inflammation by controlling the local accumulation of neutrophils, without reducing itch. In contrast, a population of non-peptidergic nociceptors was necessary for itch. Following allergen exposure, these neurons acquired a distinct transcriptional state characterized by the expression of regeneration-associated genes, revealing an unexpected form of sensory neuron reprogramming during allergic inflammation. These findings demonstrate that itch and inflammation are not simply two consequences of the same neural response. Instead, they are controlled by distinct and adaptable neuronal populations. This more nuanced understanding could support the development of therapeutic strategies that target itch and inflammation separately in contact dermatitis and other inflammatory skin disorders.

FCE News: Benaroya Research Institute

New Report Shows Neutrophils Have Altered Response to Acute Respiratory Viral Infection in Sputum of Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis

A report published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: Global (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41852854/) demonstrates that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) alters neutrophil responses in lung following acute respiratory viral infection (ARVI). Using single-cell RNA sequencing of sputum collected before infection and one month after infection, investigators led by Carmen Mikacenic, MD, and colleagues at Benaroya Research Institute characterized airway immune cell populations in healthy individuals and patients with RA. Notably, the approach enabled recovery and analysis of neutrophils, a cell type that is often underrepresented in conventional single-cell studies due to technical challenges. Patients with RA are known to experience higher rates of respiratory infections and poorer pulmonary outcomes, however the mechanisms underlying these vulnerabilities remain incompletely understood. Across more than 23,000 high-quality cells from five study participants, the authors found that overall immune cell composition was remarkably similar between healthy donor sputum and patients with RA, both at baseline and 30 days after infection. Macrophages and neutrophils dominated the sputum immune landscape, and no significant shifts in cellular proportions were detected following recovery from infection or between groups. The key differences emerged at the transcriptional level. Neutrophils from patients with RA displayed persistent alterations in gene expression associated with inflammatory activation, cytokine signaling, complement pathways and neutrophil effector functions. Single-cell analyses identified distinct neutrophil subpopulations, including interferon-stimulated, inflammatory and extracellular trap–associated phenotypes. While the relative abundance of neutrophil subsets was comparable between groups, neutrophils from RA patients exhibited elevated expression of coordinated gene modules linked to IL-1 signaling, degranulation, NET-associated responses and chemokine production. These signatures were particularly pronounced one month after infection, suggesting that inflammatory programs remain active long after apparent clinical recovery. Together, these findings support a model in which RA reshapes the airway immune environment by sustaining inflammatory neutrophil states following viral challenge rather than by changing immune cell composition. These results provide new insight into how autoimmunity influences systemic mucosal immune responses and may help explain why patients with RA experience worse outcomes after respiratory infections.

Dr Doug Fink and Dr. Abhi Das, together with Dr. Alistair Wilson (SEPTEST), have secured £1.2 million through the NI

HR i4i Product Development Awards to advance TRISEP, a rapid point-of-care diagnostic for patients presenting with suspected infection. This prog

ramme will progress TRISEP from prototype maturity to analytical validation and clinical evaluation to support regulatory progression as a point-of-care rule-out test for clinically significant infection.

New publication highlights the role of anti-interferon auto-antibodies in infectious diseases

Dr. Doug Fink and colleagues recently published a systematic review and meta-analysis in the Journal of Clinical Immunology examining the role of anti-interferon auto-antibodies across infectious diseases. The study found that anti-interferon auto-antibodies may impair immune responses to diverse infections leading to life-threatening disease. These auto-antibodies have not been studied at all in most infectious diseases, most notably for bacterial infection. Our study illustrates the urgent need to standardise methodology and reporting of auto-antibodies in the setting of infectious diseases so that the immunopathology and translational impact of these novel biomarkers can be realised. Systematic review and meta-analysis of anti-interferon auto-antibodies in infectious diseases; Journal of Clinical Immunology, June 2026 Senior author: Doug Fink (UCL) Article: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10875-026-02038-6 .

Wellcome Discovery Award to advance hepatitis B immunotherapy

The Maini lab has been awarded a Wellcome Discovery Award of £2.2m to continue their hepatitis B research over the next 6 years. Sustained immune control of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a crucial unmet therapeutic goal and an informative paradigm for overcoming constraints imposed by high antigen load and the tolerogenic liver niche. The team will use the funding to develop a novel therapeutic vaccine-delivered immunotherapy to induce functional cure. This will aim to recapitulate features of T and B cell antiviral responses they are characterising from the blood and liver of patients who have successfully controlled this virus.

Wellcome Discovery Award to study immune imprinting

Dr Laura McCoy has been awarded a Wellcome Discovery Award alongside co-applicants from the University of Liverpool, Amsterdam University Medical Centre and Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research. The 7-year project will investigate how antibodies generated during previous infections or vaccinations shape future immune responses. The aim is to uncover how “antibody feedback” regulates B cell selection and immune imprinting, combining human studies, computational modelling and germinal centre organoids. By understanding these fundamental mechanisms, the research aims to provide new strategies for designing vaccines that generate broader and more durable protection against evolving viral pathogens.

Wellcome Early-Career Award for lupus research

Dr Marilina Antonelou has been awarded a prestigious £1.2 million Wellcome Early-Career Award for her project investigating how neutrophil-derived oxidised mitochondrial DNA disrupts B-cell metabolism and drives inflammation in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Over the next five years, her team will integrate single-cell sequencing, spatial proteomics, and metabolic analyses to identify new therapeutic targets and develop strategies to restore regulatory immune responses in patients with lupus nephritis, a severe and treatment-resistant manifestation of SLE.

Member Society News: International Society of Neuroimmunology (ISNI)

ISNI Congress 2027