Mentors: Evangeline Bao, Soman Abraham, Ph.D., Department of Pathology
The burden of disease for urinary tract infections (UTI) has continuously increased over the past three decades, impacting the quality of life for many patients. A UTI occurs when bacteria, such as Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC), climb up the urethra, multiply in the urine, and cause an infection. UTIs are prone to be recurrent since UPEC invades the bladder wall and habitually reinfects the bladder. Therefore, understanding the body’s response and regulation of UPEC is essential in developing effective treatments. It has always been known that innate immune cells sense antigens with the help of pattern recognition receptors (PRR). Recent studies have shown that nociceptors also express PRR, suggesting that they may also play a role in pathogen detection. This study examines the optimal time window for assaying activated nociceptors in the bladder wall. Phosphorylated-ERK was used as a marker for activated nociceptors. Our findings suggest that nociceptors activation in the bladder is present after exposure to capsaicin for up to thirty minutes. The phosphorylated-ERK signal appears to reach its peak after five minutes of capsaicin treatment. Future investigations will include infecting female mice with UPEC to determine if nociceptors are activated upon bacterial exposure.
