Aubin Moutal
@aubinmoutal.bsky.social
640 followers 260 following 54 posts
Assistant professor at Saint Louis University. Mechanisms of autoimmunity leading to chronic pain.
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aubinmoutal.bsky.social
Hello ! 👋 I’m an assistant professor at Saint Louis University. My lab studies autoimmune mechanisms driving the transition from protective pain to chronic pain. Excited to connect with this vibrant science community! 🌟 #ChronicPainResearch #Neuroscience
aubinmoutal.bsky.social
I am very pround and thankful for all the lab members that lent their expertise to push this work over the finish line : @nicodumaire.bsky.social, @clemencegiere.bsky.social, Erin Vest, Haya Alkhateeb, and @libertym.bsky.social .
#TeamScience #PainResearch
aubinmoutal.bsky.social
This work is part of the PhD thesis of the now Dr. Lyuba Salih!
Her determination and creativity carried this project from concept to publication.
Huge thanks to Jafar Kafaie for his (real life) clinical insights and the French team for providing us with validated patient samples.
aubinmoutal.bsky.social
FGFR3-autoantibodies are not simple biomarkers.
We demonstrate a mechanism via extraceullar binding of autoantibodies to FGFR3 and how to block it.
We think targeting FGFR3 autoantibodies is a new therapeutic entry point for autoimmune neuropathies.
#Therapeutics #AutoimmunePain
aubinmoutal.bsky.social
We also had fun with a wide range of techniques from RNAscope and western blot on human DRG, to skin nerve-terminal fractionation, peptide arrays, CRISPR gene editing in cultured and in-vivo DRG.
All converging on one conclusion: FGFR3-autoantibodies bind FGFR3 to sensitize pain.
#CRISPR #HumanDRG
aubinmoutal.bsky.social
This manuscript marks a turning point for our lab's translational mission. With Dr. Jafar Kafaie, we obtained clinical measures of small fiber neuropathy patients with or without FGFR3-autoantibodies that informed back our mecanistic studies in the lab.
#TranslationalPain
aubinmoutal.bsky.social
So excited to share our preprint uncovering FGFR3 autoantibodies as pathogenic drivers of pain sensitization.
Using patient serum, human DRG and rat models, we found that autoantibodies can find FGFR3 on sensory neurons to induce hyperexcitability and hypersensitivity.
#PainResearch #Autoimmunity
Pathogenic Role of FGFR3 Autoantibodies in Small Fiber Neuropathy
Sensory neuronopathies (SNN) and small fiber neuropathies (SFN) are debilitating disorders associated with neuropathic pain, yet their underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Autoantibodies ag...
www.biorxiv.org
Reposted by Aubin Moutal
ardemp.bskyverified.social
Attending #SfN2025 in San Diego☀️? Don’t miss the Dorris Neuroscience Center Symposium at @scripps.edu, happening right before the meeting. A great lineup of speakers to kick off your SfN week. Plan your trip accordingly and register for free here:
www.eventbrite.com/e/dorris-neu...

Please amplify!
Reposted by Aubin Moutal
christlet.bsky.social
Our new preprint is up! This is the main postdoc work of @wiesner-t.bsky.social focusing on exocytosis along the axon shaft and its regulation by the sub membrane actin-spectrin scaffold: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Read the thread below for a summary of our findings 🧵1/11
Reposted by Aubin Moutal
katesadlerphd.bsky.social
1st paper from Sadler Lab is out!! Highlights: 1) A. muciniphila reverses sickle cell (SCD) pain, 2) fecal transplant from SCD mice induces pain via bilirubin-TRPM2 vagal signaling, 3) BilR+ bacteria less abundant in SCD patient poo, 4) RNAseq on HUMAN nodose ganglia! www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...
Gut microbiota and metabolites drive chronic sickle cell disease pain in mice
Brandow et al. describe how the gut microbiome drives chronic sickle cell disease (SCD) pain. SCD guts contain excessive heme catabolites, fewer bacteria that metabolize bilirubin, and low levels of A...
www.cell.com
Reposted by Aubin Moutal
tedpricethepainguy.bsky.social
New method development work from our lab that I hope will make it easier for labs to work with peripheral nervous system tissues recovered from organ donors, tissue donors, and fast autopsies: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... This work was led by the amazing duo of Joe Lesnak and Mandee Schaub
Reposted by Aubin Moutal
michalis-averof.bsky.social
Interested in a sabbatical in Lyon? The Collegium de Lyon provides accommodation and attractive interdisciplinary environment for 1 or 2 semesters. Open to all disciplines. You can be affiliated with any local department/lab. Apply now for 2026-27. collegium.universite-lyon.fr/2026-2027-un...
Reposted by Aubin Moutal
alleslab.bsky.social
First grant since joining @cincychildrens.bsky.social has been awarded!! Excited to get to work on NIH HEAL Initiative "Early-Stage Discovery of New Pain Targets Within the Understudied Druggable Proteome" with the de la Pena lab!!! #PainResearch
aubinmoutal.bsky.social
That's awesome Congrats Sascha and Bryan !
Reposted by Aubin Moutal
tedpricethepainguy.bsky.social
BOOM! Cool to see the final form of this great work now published. Deep new insight into human peripheral neuropathy. Congrats @mheming.bsky.social and colleagues on a great study.
mheming.bsky.social
Very proud that our human PNS atlas is finally published in @natcomms.nature.com We found perineurial hyperplasia and lipid-associated nerve macrophages in #polyneuropathies.
Explore: pns-atlas.mzhlab.com
A tweetorial 1/13
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
Reposted by Aubin Moutal
mheming.bsky.social
Very proud that our human PNS atlas is finally published in @natcomms.nature.com We found perineurial hyperplasia and lipid-associated nerve macrophages in #polyneuropathies.
Explore: pns-atlas.mzhlab.com
A tweetorial 1/13
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
Reposted by Aubin Moutal
dianatavf.bsky.social
This work is finally online as in-press preview!

JCI - Cell and molecular profiles in peripheral nerves shift toward inflammatory phenotypes in diabetic peripheral neuropathy www.jci.org/articles/vie...
JCI - Cell and molecular profiles in peripheral nerves shift toward inflammatory phenotypes in diabetic peripheral neuropathy
www.jci.org
aubinmoutal.bsky.social
CRMP2 expression and function is already validated in human lymphocytes from patients with HTLV1 and MS. Which brings a lot of translational relevance to this manuscript. It's all very exciting
academic.oup.com/jimmunol/art...
academic.oup.com/jimmunol/art...
aubinmoutal.bsky.social
A big game changer in the CRMP2 game bringing together old and new litterature and further validating CRMP2 phosphorylation at S522 as a excellent therapeutic target for alleviating pain.
painthejournal.bsky.social
Jiang et al. find that collapsin response mediator protein 2 phosphorylation in CD4+ T cells affects spinal infiltration and pain modulation, hinting at novel therapies for rheumatoid arthritis–related chronic pain. Learn more in #PAIN bit.ly/3HnqDO4
Reposted by Aubin Moutal
aubinmoutal.bsky.social
We started with an observation from the clinic but ended with a model, a mechanism, and a path toward treatment.

Science is at its best when it closes the loop—from bench to bedside, and back again.

We’re proud of what this work uncovered—but even more excited about what it unlocks next!
aubinmoutal.bsky.social
I am grateful to all co-authors for their input and support.

This project was supported by funds from NINDS, The University of Arizona and Saint Louis University. Thanks to our funders for supporting high-risk, translational work.
aubinmoutal.bsky.social
Lyuba Salih & Nicolas Dumaire at SLU took time off from their graduate projects to help close key experiments.

Jérôme Honnorat provided invaluable clinical insight and precious patient sera.

This project began with Rajesh Khanna, whose mentorship and support made the finish line possible.