François Lallemend

Warm congratulations to The Brain Prize winners 2026, Professor David Ginty and Professor Patrik Ernfors, for their pioneering work on how the nervous system detects and processes touch and pain.

Karolinska Institutet
HHMI

#Neuroscience #BrainPrize2026

Targeting immune cells in the aged brain reveals that engineered cytokine IL-10 enhances neurogenesis and improves cognition Immune cells populate the old brain, but whether they can be specifically targeted to improve brain function in older individuals remains unclear. Navarro Negredo et al. dissect how aging impacts brai...

Excited to share our new study using engineered immune proteins to quench inflammation in aged brains!!

Congratulations to Paloma Navarro and the entire team!

Fantastic collaboration with Chris Garcia's lab, Tony Wyss-Coray's lab, and Saul Villeda's lab!

www.cell.com/immunity/ful...

Big effort, exciting results - our paper on the constraints of thermal limits in tropical insects is now out in @nature.com! 🦋🐝🪰🪲🦗
@ecoresearchzoo3.bsky.social
@biologie-uniwue.bsky.social
@uni-wuerzburg.de

Why does women's pain last longer than men's? A new study offers an answer The research suggests that men’s immune systems have a better mechanism for shutting off pain, which could explain why women have more chronic symptoms.

Thanks @nbcnews.com for covering our #SciImmunoloy paper showing the role of IL-10+ monocytes in sex difference in #pain www.nbcnews.com/health/women... #neuroimmunology
Original article in comments

Sensory neurons drive immune exclusion by stimulating a dense extracellular matrix in the breast cancer tumor microenvironment In the triple-negative breast cancer ecosystem, sensory neurons activate cancer-associated fibroblasts to secrete collagen, thus stimulating a dense extracellular matrix that drives immune exclusion.

CGRP-releasing sensory afferents are shaping peripheral biology. Now, a new study shows they can also reshape the tumor environment and limit immune access.

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Lundbeck's migraine prevention drug succeeds in Phase 2, advancing new therapy class Lundbeck said its next-generation migraine prevention drug cleared the bar in a Phase 2b study, setting the company up for final-stage trials that could start this year.

Good news keeps on coming in the pain and migraine space! endpoints.news/lundbeck-mig...

Potentiation of active locomotor state by spinal-projecting serotonergic neurons Fenstermacher et al. map the structure and activity of spinal-projecting serotonergic neurons and show that 5-HT populations are engaged in a context-dependent manner during locomotion. Activation of ...

www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...

Molecular architecture of human dermal sleeping nociceptors Human dermal sleeping nociceptors display ongoing activity in neuropathic pain, affecting 10% of the population. Despite advances in rodents, a molecu…

Congratulations to so many #PainResearch folks on this very cool study!!! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Intestinal macrophages modulate synucleinopathy along the gut–brain axis - Nature Muscularis macrophages, housekeepers of enteric nervous system integrity and intestinal homeostasis, modulate α-synuclein pathology and neurodegeneration in models of Parkinson’s disease, and understa...

In this study, Seppe et al. show how intestinal macrophages can modulate synucleinopathy along the gut–brain axis, strengthening evidence that the gut plays an important role in the earliest stages of Parkinson’s disease.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Light-induced analgesia provides a drug-free optical method for pain relief via activation of TRAAK k+ channels!

Anoctamin-2-specific T cells link Epstein-Barr virus to multiple sclerosis Researchers identified anoctamin-2 (ANO2) as a frequent autoimmune target in multiple sclerosis, with T cell responses against ANO2 occurring in over half of patients. These ANO2-specific T cells shar...

Published in Cell, a new study shows that the immune system’s reaction to the common Epstein-Barr virus can ultimately damage the brain and contribute to multiple sclerosis, from a team @ki.se

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

New findings demonstrate that the same genetic program that enables young mice to survive sepsis drives the risk of death following similar infection later in life.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Oxytocin Modulation of Spinal Circuits Drives Therapeutic Benefits of Massage Across social species, social touch enhances well-being and reduces pain - two seemingly distinct benefits that enhance survival. Yet where and how the nervous system integrates these functions, and w...

Exciting new preprint on oxytocin neural circuits for massage led by Manon Bohic in Vicky Abraira’s lab. Sasha and I were glad to contribute imaging experiments to this collaborative effort, spanning mice to humans. Vicky is a master at bringing people together.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Satellite glial cells transfer healthy mitochondria to adjacent sensory neurons in the DRG through nanotube-like structures, with a protective role against peripheral neuropathy.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Mapping somatosensory afferent circuitry to bone identifies neurotrophic signals required for fracture healing The pain associated with bone fracture is mediated by somatosensory neurons, which also appear to be required to initiate bone regeneration. To characterize neuroanatomical circuitry mediating skeleta...

Sensory neurons innervating bones can modulate the healing process (bone regeneration) after a fracture!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Ontogeny of the spinal cord dorsal horn The dorsal horn of the mammalian spinal cord is organized into laminae where each layer is populated by different neuron types, has distinctive circuit connections, and plays specialized roles in beha...

Excited to share @rbrianroome.bsky.social ‘s beautiful paper on development of the dorsal horn of the mouse spinal cord @science.org

This is how the anatomical organization and cell types that process pain, touch, body position and more are laid down.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

TGFβ signaling mediates microglial resilience to spatiotemporally restricted myelin degeneration - Nature Neuroscience Zhu et al. find that aging causes region-specific myelin damage in the spinal cord, which is counteracted by enhanced TGFβ signaling in microglia, revealing a protective mechanism for healthy aging.

Microglia checkpoints promote healthy myelin aging
Our new paper is out in Nature Neuroscience @natneuro.nature.com

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Wrapping up 2025 with one more article #PainResearch

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Our last preprint for 2025 ⬇️

This is why I said "polishing", not writing for you, or worst, learning. I am not used to comment, but if my comments are wrongly interpreted, that becomes useless, and unfortunate.

I think that I got it, but wanted to add another layer which seems more global.

Anyway, using ChatGPT to help with polishing a text in English should not be seen as a problem: most people are not native English speakers, and many critics would find it quite hard to argue their point perfectly in a "second" or "third" language; yet, this is expected for non-English speakers.

Fasting boosts breast cancer therapy efficacy via glucocorticoid activation - Nature Beneficial effects of fasting combined with endocrine therapy for oestrogen receptor-α-expressing breast cancers can be recapitulated using exogenous glucocorticoid receptor ligands instead of fasting...

Fasting boosts breast cancer therapy efficacy via glucocorticoid activation

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Adults up to 80 years old maintain effective movement planning when facing complex body dynamics Aging can significantly impact motor performance, especially in highly complex tasks such as multi-joint movements where the nervous system needs to adequately coordinate mechanical interactions betwe...

First paper from our cerebellum project accepted at GeroScience
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Congrats to Anouck and Anda for leading the way!

Our story on mechanosensation in baroreceptor cells of the kidney is finally out! Well worth the wait on this project we began in 2020 that turned into a massive collaborative effort within the kidney field. 🫘 www.sciencedirect.com:5037/science/arti...

Neuronal aging causes mislocalization of splicing proteins and unchecked cellular stress | Nature Neuroscience Aging is one of the most prominent risk factors for neurodegeneration, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying the deterioration of old neurons are mostly unknown. To efficiently study neurodegeneration in the context of aging, we transdifferentiated primary human fibroblasts from aged healthy donors directly into neurons, which retained their aging hallmarks, and we verified key findings in aged human and mouse brain tissue. Here we show that aged neurons are broadly depleted of RNA-binding proteins, especially spliceosome components. Intriguingly, splicing proteins—like the dementia- and ALS-associated protein TDP-43—mislocalize to the cytoplasm in aged neurons, which leads to widespread alternative splicing. Cytoplasmic spliceosome components are typically recruited to stress granules, but aged neurons suffer from chronic cellular stress that prevents this sequestration. We link chronic stress to the malfunctioning ubiquitylation machinery, poor HSP90α chaperone activity and the fai

Neuronal aging leads to mislocated splicing proteins and unchecked stress. Aged neurons lose RNA-binding proteins. PMID:40456907, Nat Neurosci 2025, @NatureNeuro https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-01952-z #Medsky #Pharmsky #RNA #ASHG #ESHG 🧪

Functional and molecular insights into muscle proprioceptors The emerging taxonomy of proprioceptive neuron subtypes provides a framework for dissecting the cellular logic of sensorimotor control.

New review out, together with Saida Hadjab and Prach Techameena @ki.se
We consolidate known proprioceptive neuron subtypes and propose a unified framework linking molecular identity to their potential roles in sensorimotor circuits.
elifesciences.org/articles/106...

We are looking for a Research Assistant with an interest in functional metabolic and epigenetic interplay in oligodendrocytes! To study this we apply a wide range of leading-edge technologies… | Kar... We are looking for a Research Assistant with an interest in functional metabolic and epigenetic interplay in oligodendrocytes! To study this we apply a wide range of leading-edge technologies, inclu...

We are hiring!!
Interested in applying various CRISPR editing approaches and cell profiling to address functional metabolic and epigenetic interplay in oligodendrocytes?!

Apply here 👇
www.linkedin.com/posts/karl-c...

Stress-induced sympathetic hyperactivation drives hair follicle necrosis to trigger autoimmunity Acute stress causes immediate hair follicle necrosis and hair loss via sympathetic nerves, which in turn activates and expands autoreactive CD8⁺ T cells targeting hair follicles. Thus, a single stress...

Cool ... but not cool. Stress-induced hyperactivation of skin nerves kills your hair follicles, and primes your immune system for future attacks.

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Enteric nervous system-derived VIP restrains differentiation of LGR5+ stem cells toward the secretory lineage controlling type 1 and 2 immune balance @natimmunol.nature.com @champalimaudf.bsky.social @neuroimmune-rok.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...