Decoding neuroimmune circuits at barrier tissues
We investigate how sensory neurons orchestrate immune responses in the gut — integrating microbial, dietary, and injury signals to control epithelial function, innate and adaptive immune responses.
How do sensory neurons shape immunity?
The Zhang lab investigates how peripheral sensory neurons orchestrate immune responses in the gut — integrating microbial, dietary, and injury signals to control epithelial function, innate immunity, and adaptive responses. Our long-term goal is to identify neuroimmune pathways that can be therapeutically targeted to treat inflammatory bowel disease, food allergy, infection, and colorectal cancer.
Intestinal homeostasis
Neuroimmune circuits that maintain gut health and drive tissue repair after injury or infection.
Sensory neuro-immune crosstalk
How sensory neurons regulate immune responses in health and disease.
Spatial multi-omics
Mapping neuroimmune communication within tissues at single-cell resolution.
Cancer immunology
Neuroimmune pathways in colorectal cancer initiation and anti-tumor immunity.
Sensory convergence: a systems framework for immune decision-making
The immune system does not operate in isolation. Peripheral sensory neurons continuously sample the tissue environment — integrating neuronal, microbial, tissue, and immune signals — and relay this information to shape immune outcomes at barrier surfaces.
Our lab proposes that sensory convergence nodes — innervated stromal cells, tissue-resident immune cells, and neuro-immune synapses — act as computational hubs that integrate these diverse inputs and direct immune decisions toward protection, tolerance, repair, or inflammation.
Convergence nodes
Innervated stromal cells, tissue-resident immune cells, and neuro-immune synapses integrate Ca²⁺, cAMP, MAPK, and NF-kB signals to coordinate immune outcomes.
Signal integration
Sensory inputs — neuropeptides, PAMPs, DAMPs, cytokines — converge on shared intracellular pathways to drive context-dependent immune responses.
Plasticity and memory
Inflammation rewires convergence nodes, creating neuroimmune memory that underlies chronic disease and cancer susceptibility.
