Intestinal Eosinophil Functional Phenotypes
Our work is revealing distinct subsets of eosinophils resident within the gastrointestinal tract that differentially promote health and tissue healing, or drive pathology.
Ongoing studies are: 1) defining surface receptor repertoires to distinguish “helpful” from “harmful” intestinal eosinophils; 2) deciphering the factors that shape eosinophil functional phenotypes; and 3) translating these new findings into developing novel therapeutic strategies to modulate eosinophil phenotypes in patients with eosinophil associated diseases.
Regulation of mucosal organ eosinophils along the skin:lung:gut axis
Using mouse models of allergic diseases we have made the novel discovery that allergen challenge to the skin (atopic dermatitis), lung (asthma), or gut (food allergy) elicits not only a local eosinophilic inflammatory response at the site of allergen exposure, but also dysregulates resident eosinophils within the remote (ie allergen non-exposed) lung and gut.
Dysregulation of lung eosinophils primed the airways, causing enhanced susceptibility to an allergic asthma-like response upon inhalation of an unrelated allergen.
These studies are uncovering new mechanisms that may contribute to the “allergic march” in patients.
Relevant Publications from the Spencer Lab:
Pathogenesis of eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGIDs)
Although eosinophils are the cardinal cellular feature defining EGIDs, how they participate in EGID pathophysiology is not understood. Our active ongoing studies are working toward: 1) Discriminating putatively “helpful” from “harmful” eosinophil subsets in EGID patient biopsies; 2) Elucidating functions of tissue eosinophils that drive pathology or promote tissue healing in EGIDs; and 3) Delineating the biological relevance of IgG4 deposition from local tissue plasma cells.
Relevant Publications from the Spencer Lab:
Eosinophils in IBD
Content coming soon….
Relevant Publications: