https://www.sharma-lab.com/research daily 1.0 2026-08-24 https://www.sharma-lab.com/people daily 0.75 2023-06-23 https://www.sharma-lab.com/publications daily 0.75 2023-05-06 https://www.sharma-lab.com/contact daily 0.75 2021-03-10 https://www.sharma-lab.com/description daily 0.75 2026-08-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebde9d51db26057713642f4/1615557204195-F5WU4V3FUO5ZK2HDYM39/Image+11.png Research Genetic access Enteric neurons were long grouped by broad functional categories rather than by molecular identity, which made it nearly impossible to test what any single cell type does. We have built more than thirty new mouse lines that label, silence, and activate transcriptionally defined neurons across all three lineages that innervate the gut: enteric, sensory, and autonomic. This gives us access to one cell type at a time in a living animal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebde9d51db26057713642f4/1615557957057-G2N25YGVO61OHDOD6H88/Untitled-1.png Research Development Where does this diversity come from? Building a transcriptomic atlas of the sensory lineage, we found that neurons are born in a transcriptionally unspecialized state, co-expressing transcription factors that only later become restricted to particular subtypes. Signals from the neuron’s eventual target help drive that shift from generic to specific. We are now asking how the same problem is solved in the enteric and autonomic lineages. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebde9d51db26057713642f4/1615558411330-9568W0I9GLAU0TC4YN42/Untitled-2.png Research Physiology Knowing what a cell type is matters only if you can say what it does. We combine chemogenetics, in vivo multiphoton imaging, and quantitative measures of gut function to test each subtype directly. Enteric subtypes turn out to be far from redundant, individually shaping fecal output, hydration, and food intake, and some cannot control intestinal transit at all without extrinsic input. Colon-innervating sensory neurons, meanwhile, set the threshold at which distension becomes pain.