a, b, Back skin innervation by CGRP+ neurons quantified 3 weeks after either local injection of (a) resiniferatoxin (RTX) or vehicle into WT mice (n = 4/group), or (b) diphtheria toxin (DTX) into Nav1.8-Calca-DTR (Nav1.8-cre+/−Calca-DTR+/−) mice (n = 4) or into littermate control (Nav1.8-cre+/−Calca-DTR−/−) mice (n = 3). Scale bar = 100 μm. c, Meningeal innervation by CGRP+ neurons after local application of DTX in Nav1.8-Calca-DTR mice or control littermates (n = 3/group). Scale bar = 300 μm. d, Bacterial load in samples collected 24h after injection of S. pneumoniae from Nav1.8-Calca-DTR mice or control littermates treated locally with DTX (n = 3/group). a, b, c, green = CGRP staining; white = skeletonization. Statistical analysis: (a, b, c, d) Unpaired two-sided t-tests. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01. n = biologically independent samples from mouse tissues. Each experiment was performed at least twice, and results presented are representative of 2 or more replicates. ns = not significant. Mean ±SEM. Exact p-values in Supplementary Table 1.