A big thank you to the ÖGAI for this recognition and for supporting young scientists in Austria and of course to my PI @philippstarkl.bsky.social, all our colleagues and collaborators that made this project possible! ☺️

@cemm-vienna.bsky.social

Thank you so much Helena! :)

Thank you for sharing our work! ☺️

9/9 I'd love to connect if you're interested in trained immunity, eosinophils, allergy, or infection-driven inflammation @science.org
#ScienceImmunology #PhDResearch #TrainedImmunity #Eosinophils #Asthma #Allergy #SkinInfection

8/9 Huge thanks to my supervisor @philippstarkl.bsky.social , our team at MedUni Vienna, CeMM, and all collaborators for making this work possible and this incredible journey! Here on bsky @asmafarhat.bsky.social @vojtechdvorak.bsky.social @andysombke.bsky.social @nikfortelny.bsky.social

7/9 These results uncover a novel skin–bone marrow–lung axis in immunity and help explain how local infections can have systemic and long-term effects on allergic inflammation.

6/9 Importantly, pharmacological blockade of IL-33 or C5a attenuated the inflammation, suggesting potential therapeutic targets in trained eosinophil-mediated allergic disease.

5/9 Mechanistically, IL-33 promoted eosinophil expansion in the bone marrow, while C5a guided their recruitment to the lungs. Eosinophils directly sensed both signals via ST2 and C5aR1 receptors.

4/9 This immune imprinting persisted beyond bacterial clearance, transferred to naïve mice via bone marrow transplantation, and was eosinophil-specific as shown by adoptive eosinophil transfer.

3/9 Upon later allergen exposure (house dust mite), these trained eosinophils drove stronger type 2 inflammation in the lungs, including increased eosinophilia, proinflammatory cytokines, allergen-specific antibodies, and impaired lung function.

2/9 This work, done in @starkllab.bsky.social , shows that the infection reprograms eosinophils both transcriptionally and epigenetically, also shifting their metabolism and functional behaviour - all hallmarks of innate immune memory.

Amazing!!! 🤩