Our Research
A Plaza in Texas in the 1930’s by Carmen Lomas GarzaEnteric Circuits
Like the gathered groups of people in A Plaza in Texas in the 1930's, Carmen Lomas Garza’s vibrant painting of community life, the gut contains scattered but organized clusters of neurons and glia spanning its entire length, from the esophagus to the colon. These clusters form the enteric nervous system (ENS), a dense intrinsic neural network that independently initiates and coordinates reflexes essential for gut function, including motility, secretion, and absorption. Despite its central role in gastrointestinal physiology, much remains unknown about how ENS circuits are wired, how they are regulated, how they interact with the broader sensory and autonomic nervous systems, and how they function in vivo. Emerging genetic tools in mice offer powerful opportunities to address these gaps. By integrating molecular genetics, high-resolution imaging, and in vivo approaches, we aim to map enteric circuits, uncover regulatory mechanisms, and determine how disruptions in the ENS impact gut function.
Allegory of Winter (1948) by Remedios Varo
In Remedios Varo’s Allegory of Winter (1948), branching trees extend toward translucent geometric forms that hold encapsulated elements, suggesting hidden connections between two different worlds. We draw a parallel to the gut, where sensory neurons innervate muscle, epithelial, enteroendocrine, immune, and even enteric neurons. Unlike in the skin, where sensory neurons form specialized complexes with epithelial cells to mediate touch, the nature of their interactions in the gut remains unclear. Our research seeks to uncover whether sensory neurons form structural or functional contacts with enteric neurons and other gut-resident cells, and whether these interactions play a role in maintaining gut health.
Sensory neuron–gut cell interactions
Without Hope by Frida Kahlo, 1945
In Frida Kahlo’s Without Hope (1945), a funnel delivers entrails, fish, and meat into the artist’s mouth. That striking image captures, in metaphor, how extreme challenges can overwhelm the gut–brain axis and destabilize its homeostasis. In our lab, we study stressors such as inflammation, chronic psychological stress, disease, and unbalanced diets to understand how they alter gut–brain communication. We aim to identify the signaling molecules and peripheral nervous system circuits involved, the subtypes of neurons that mediate these effects, the time windows when they act, and the molecular mechanisms behind them. By uncovering these processes, we seek to distinguish the circuits that sustain gut health from those that drive symptoms like dysbiosis, inflammation, and dysmotility, which reduce quality of life.