No pain, no gain - how nociceptors orchestrate tissue repair

Pain-sensing peripheral neurons, nociceptors, exert control over many aspects of the immune response through various means, including the secretion of immunomodulatory molecules. Adding to the growing list of such interactions, a recent article by Lu et al. reported that a nociceptive neuropeptide, calcitonin gene-related peptide, induces thrombospondin-1 expression in macrophages and neutrophils, limiting their pro-inflammatory functions and promoting tissue repair after injury.