Neuroimmune pathophysiological mechanisms of ocular surface disease

Dry eye affects millions of people worldwide, especially women and the elderly, and it usually presents with inflammation of the cornea (front part of the eye). Although non-life threatening, dry eye can be disabling, impairing sight and reducing life quality. The cornea has the most nerves in all the human body, and dry eye damages corneal nerves, hence the pain. Current treatments cannot prevent this because we still do not know how corneal nerves become affected. Here we will explore how the inflammation of dry eye could damage corneal nerves by excessively activating one of their receptors. In other diseases, too much activation of this receptor can cause nerve degeneration, and we have observed that nerve damage and ocular inflammation are connected by this mechanism in other corneal lesions. Thus, this project could help develop a new treatment for dry eye aimed at preventing nerve damage and its associated pain.