Tiandi Yang News Today

Work in mice illuminates how pain neurons shield the gut from damage. Pain has been long recognized as one of evolution's most reliable tools to detect the presence of harm and signal that something is wrong — an alert system that tells us to...

Pain neurons engage in direct cross-talk with goblet cells, or mucus-containing cells within the gut. During states of inflammation, pain cells stimulate goblet cells to release more mucus. Findings suggest the nervous system plays a key role in gut barrier maintenance and triggers protective mechanisms during periods of inflammation.