Wired for immunity: neuroimmune control of the lung by sensory neurons (opens in new tab)

Respiratory diseases, including bacterial pneumonia, viral infections and allergic asthma, are leading causes of hospitalization, yet current therapies often fall short. The lower airways are densely innervated by pain-transmitting sensory neurons (nociceptors) that arise from the nodose–jugular ganglia of the vagus nerve, with additional contributions from the spinal dorsal root ganglia. Converging evidence indicates that reciprocal neuroimmune signalling between lung-innervating sensory neu...