I am very pround and thankful for all the lab members that lent their expertise to push this work over the finish line : @nicodumaire.bsky.social, @clemencegiere.bsky.social, Erin Vest, Haya Alkhateeb, and @libertym.bsky.social .
#TeamScience #PainResearch

This work is part of the PhD thesis of the now Dr. Lyuba Salih!
Her determination and creativity carried this project from concept to publication.
Huge thanks to Jafar Kafaie for his (real life) clinical insights and the French team for providing us with validated patient samples.

FGFR3-autoantibodies are not simple biomarkers.
We demonstrate a mechanism via extraceullar binding of autoantibodies to FGFR3 and how to block it.
We think targeting FGFR3 autoantibodies is a new therapeutic entry point for autoimmune neuropathies.
#Therapeutics #AutoimmunePain

We also had fun with a wide range of techniques from RNAscope and western blot on human DRG, to skin nerve-terminal fractionation, peptide arrays, CRISPR gene editing in cultured and in-vivo DRG.
All converging on one conclusion: FGFR3-autoantibodies bind FGFR3 to sensitize pain.
#CRISPR #HumanDRG

This manuscript marks a turning point for our lab's translational mission. With Dr. Jafar Kafaie, we obtained clinical measures of small fiber neuropathy patients with or without FGFR3-autoantibodies that informed back our mecanistic studies in the lab.
#TranslationalPain