Cellular and Molecular mapping of the blood nerve barrier during health and disease

The entire central and peripheral nervous systems (CNS and PNS) are shielded from potentially neurotoxic molecules in the circulation by the blood-brain and blood-nerve barriers.

Dorsal root ganglia (DRG), which are collections of cell bodies of sensory neurons located alongside the spinal cord, are highly vascularized organs that lack a conventional blood-nerve barrier.

As a consequence, the DRG experiences a continual influx of proteins and macromolecules from the blood, raising an important question: How is barrier integrity maintained to protect the DRG from potentially toxic molecules?This project aims to address that question by providing a map of the molecular and cellular interactions that regulate the blood-DRG barrier during homeostasis and how this system is dysregulated during disease.

I will address these aims by using mouse models of chemotherapy and inflammation, combined with cutting-edge sequencing technologies and functional studies.I anticipate that this work will help design novel therapies for disorders of the sensory nervous system, in particular inflammatory neuropathies and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, two conditions leading to significant morbidity which currently lack effective therapies.