{"id":69266,"date":"2026-07-05T06:47:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T04:47:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/2026\/07\/05\/optineurin-restrains-il-17-associated-neuroinflammation-in-trigeminal-ganglia-to-preserve-sensory-function-after-ocular-hsv-1-infection\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T06:47:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T04:47:56","slug":"optineurin-restrains-il-17-associated-neuroinflammation-in-trigeminal-ganglia-to-preserve-sensory-function-after-ocular-hsv-1-infection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/2026\/07\/05\/optineurin-restrains-il-17-associated-neuroinflammation-in-trigeminal-ganglia-to-preserve-sensory-function-after-ocular-hsv-1-infection\/","title":{"rendered":"Optineurin restrains IL-17-associated neuroinflammation in trigeminal ganglia to preserve sensory function after ocular HSV-1 infection"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><b>J Immunol<\/b>. 2026 Jun 7;215(6):vkag161. doi: 10.1093\/jimmun\/vkag161.<\/p>\n<p><b>ABSTRACT<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Neurotrophic keratitis (NK) arises when trigeminal sensory dysfunction reduces corneal sensation and compromises epithelial maintenance. Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) establishes latency in the trigeminal ganglion (TG) and is a common trigger of acquired NK, yet the host programs that determine whether inflamed ganglia recover or degenerate remain poorly defined. Moreover, experimental models that faithfully capture NK-like neuroimmune pathology are limited. Using a murine ocular HSV-1 infection model, we identify optineurin (OPTN) as a key regulator of trigeminal nerve preservation. Optn-\/- mice developed severe corneal opacity and rapid, persistent loss of corneal and whisker sensitivity despite comparable corneal viral titers. Droplet-based single-cell RNA sequencing of TGs at 30 days postinfection revealed reduced recovery of peripheral neuronal transcriptomes and coordinated enrichment of chemokine\/NF-\u03baB and Th17\/IL-17 gene signatures across neurons, endothelial cells, and myeloid\/lymphoid populations. Consistent with these transcriptional programs, IL-17 was elevated in Optn-\/- TGs at 30 days, whereas the cornea and draining lymph nodes did not exhibit increased IL-17 production early after infection. Neuronal staining demonstrated loss of the synaptic marker SNCG without increased neuronal death, implicating IL-17-associated inflammation in neuronal dysfunction rather than acute ablation. Together, these findings identify OPTN as a neuroimmune checkpoint that restrains chronic IL-17-linked ganglionic inflammation to preserve sensory function and suggest that OPTN deficiency provides a tractable experimental model for studying HSV-associated NK.<\/p>\n<p>PMID:<a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/42400459\/?utm_source=SimplePie&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_content=2985117R&amp;ff=20260705004756&amp;v=2.20.0\">42400459<\/a> | DOI:<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/jimmun\/vkag161\">10.1093\/jimmun\/vkag161<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>J Immunol. 2026 Jun 7;215(6):vkag161. doi: 10.1093\/jimmun\/vkag161. ABSTRACT Neurotrophic keratitis (NK) arises when trigeminal sensory dysfunction reduces corneal sensation and compromises epithelial maintenance. Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) establishes latency in the trigeminal ganglion (TG) and is a common trigger of acquired NK, yet the host programs that determine whether inflamed ganglia recover or &#8230; <a title=\"Optineurin restrains IL-17-associated neuroinflammation in trigeminal ganglia to preserve sensory function after ocular HSV-1 infection\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/2026\/07\/05\/optineurin-restrains-il-17-associated-neuroinflammation-in-trigeminal-ganglia-to-preserve-sensory-function-after-ocular-hsv-1-infection\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Optineurin restrains IL-17-associated neuroinflammation in trigeminal ganglia to preserve sensory function after ocular HSV-1 infection\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-publicaciones","category-the-journal-of-immunology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69266\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}