Esther Borges Florsheim

Recent Preprints and Emerging Research

Our recent work investigates how toxins and allergens influence immune responses, physiology, and behavior. The following articles are preprints and have not yet been peer-reviewed.

1. Toxins, inflammation, and physiological responses

How do toxins and biologically active compounds alter immune function and organismal physiology? These studies examine intestinal immune responses, the regulation of allergic inflammation, and the coordinated physiological changes associated with systemic inflammation.

• Roginski AC et al. Cholera toxin remodels intestinal immunity and suppresses systemic metabolism. bioRxiv. 2026.
  Investigates how cholera toxin exposure affects intestinal immunity and metabolism across the body.
• Nawaz F, Woodrow C, Roginski AC, Florsheim EB. Sennoside A differentially regulates mast cell activation and attenuates gut allergic inflammation. bioRxiv. 2026.
  Examines how sennoside A modulates mast cell activation and allergic inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract.
• Kher P*, Costa Lima BG*, Woodrow C*, et al. Systemic endotoxemia induces integrated sickness physiology in female BALB/c. bioRxiv. 2026.
  Characterizes coordinated physiological responses to systemic endotoxin exposure. *Equal contribution.

2. Allergic immunity and food avoidance

How does repeated exposure to food allergens influence behavior? This work extends our investigation of immune-mediated avoidance to shrimp allergy, examining the involvement of inflammatory mediators and selective activation along the gut–brain axis.

• Andrade CM et al. Repeated shrimp allergen exposure drives 5-lipoxygenase-dependent avoidance and selective gut-brain activation. bioRxiv. 2026.

Selected Contributions to Science (peer-reviewed)

My research explores how immune defenses shape physiology and behavior, with a particular interest in allergic responses and their potential protective functions. These selected contributions reflect work with collaborators across my research career.

1. Connecting immune recognition of food allergens to avoidance behavior

How does the immune system influence what animals choose to eat? In mouse models of food allergy, we showed that allergic sensitization promotes specific avoidance of the offending food allergen. This response requires IgE antibodies, mast cells, and signaling involving cysteinyl leukotrienes and growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15). Allergen ingestion also activates brain regions involved in responses to aversive stimuli. These findings identify a connection between immune recognition and food avoidance, expanding our understanding of how immune defenses influence behavior.

Representative publication

• Florsheim EB, Bachtel ND, et al. Immune sensing of food allergens promotes avoidance behaviour. Nature. 2023. Co-first and co-corresponding author.

2. Investigating the protective functions of allergic immunity

Why do immune responses that cause allergies exist? Our collaborative work provided experimental evidence that IgE responses to a bee venom enzyme can protect mice against subsequent exposure to that enzyme. Building on evidence for protective allergic defenses, we proposed a framework in which allergic immunity contributes to food quality control by responding to food antigens associated with harmful substances. This framework considers how protective responses may become exaggerated and contribute to allergic disease.

Representative publications

• Florsheim EB, Sullivan ZA, Khoury-Hanold W, Medzhitov R. Food allergy as a biological food quality control system. Cell. 2021. Review; equal contribution among the first three authors.
• Palm NW, Rosenstein RK, Yu S, Schenten DD, Florsheim E, Medzhitov R. Bee venom phospholipase A2 induces a primary type 2 response that is dependent on the receptor ST2 and confers protective immunity. Immunity. 2013.

3. Defining how allergens initiate allergic sensitization

What makes a substance capable of triggering allergic immunity? Our studies examined how the biological activity of allergens and accompanying food components influence sensitization. Using the protease allergen subtilisin, we identified innate immune pathways that connect enzymatic activity to allergic airway inflammation and showed that this activity can promote sensitization to an unrelated protein. In complementary work on Brazil nut allergy, we demonstrated that accompanying lipids support allergic sensitization and identified a role for invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells. Together, these studies show how allergen activity and exposure context help determine allergic responses.

Representative publications

• Florsheim E, Yu S, et al. Integrated innate mechanisms involved in airway allergic inflammation to the serine protease subtilisin. Journal of Immunology. 2015.
• Mirotti L, Florsheim E, et al. Lipids are required for the development of Brazil nut allergy: the role of mouse and human iNKT cells. Allergy. 2013.

View publications on PubMed