New Grant Awarded to Bonner and Colleagues

Congratulations to Jamie Bonner and colleagues on being awarded a $2.25M grant funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to study mechanisms of nanoparticle-allergen interactions that mediate exacerbation of allergic lung disease in mice. The proposed research aims to evaluate how carbon nanotubes, a prototypical engineered nanoparticle, modify the immunogenicity of house dust mite allergens in the lung through the formation of a nanoparticle-allergen corona that is proposed to enhance cell signaling via the protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2). The work involves co-investigators at Duke University and UNC Chapel Hill with expertise in nanoparticle-corona biochemistry and PAR2 transgenic mouse models. The research will have broad implications for understanding fundamental mechanisms that mediate exacerbation of asthma in humans by ultrafine air pollution particles, as well as emerging engineered nanoparticles.