The Emerging Role of Neuro-Immune Synapses and the Immunological Homunculus in the Context of the Systematic Lymphoid Organs Innervation
Evolving concept By Clemens Wülfing, Fenja Amrei Schuran, Inga Hölge, Julia Urban, Jasmin Oehlmann and Hauke Simon Günther Nearly all body tissues are connected to the central nervous system through the axonal terminals of neurons. But with regard to lymphoid organs, this direct innervation, its extent and significance, as well as the role of afferent […]
The Nervous System’s Relationship to Immune Events: ‘Broadly Based but Cell-Faced’ – ‘wAPC’ as Hardwired Antigen Presenting Cells
Evolving Concepts In many textbooks, predominantly targeting medical students, i.e. anatomy, histology and physiology, or in more specialized areas of interest such as immunology or neurobiology, the innervation of immune organs is still something of a mystery as concerns the peripheral nervous system. One reason may be that the fields of immunology and neurobiology have […]
Rainer Straub and the Origin of Chronic Inflammatory Systemic Diseases
SHORT FEATURES and FACES ARTICLE Synopsis of the Book The Origin of Chronic Inflammatory Systemic Diseases and Their Sequelae by Rainer H Straub Academic Press/Elsevier Chronic inflammatory systemic diseases (CIDs) are a burden to humans because approximately 10% of the population is affected by long-standing chronic inflammatory illness. The numbers would be extensively higher if […]
New Evidence that Peripheral Nerves Sense Infection and Drive IL-23 Production by Skin Dendritic Cells
In a new study published in the journal Immunity, Sakeen Kashem and colleagues from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA report that in the murine skin, IL-23, derived from CD301b+ DCs drives IL-17A production by γδ T cells, and this cytokine network is required to establish resistance to cutaneous candidiasis. Interleukin (IL)-23 is a […]
TRPV1 Sensory Nerves May Be Key to the Genesis of Airway Hyperreactivity in Experimental Asthma
A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) of the USA implicates the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1)-expressing sensory nerves in the pathogenesis of asthma and/or asthma attacks. The TRPV1 receptor, initially identified as the receptor for capsaicin, the hot component of chilli peppers, is typically expressed in sensory […]
Evidence that electroacupuncture affects immunity through a specific dopaminergic neuroendocrine pathway
A new study, published in the February 23, 2014 issue of Nature Medicine (Advance Online Publication) provides perhaps the first robust evidence that acupuncture’s effects are translated through specific neuroendocrine and immune pathways. The way acupuncture affects human physiologic processes, and particularly immune function and homeostasis, is not well understood. Acupuncture has always been considered […]
Autonomic Nerves May Contribute to Prostate Cancer Development
In the July 2013 issue of Science magazine, Claire Magnon et al. provide evidence that autonomic nerves contribute to prostate cancer development, where the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) via the activation of β2 and β3-adrenergic receptor pathway participate in the early phase of tumor development. On the other hand, the parasympathetic (cholinergic) nervous system plays […]
Sympathetic neural control of circadian oscillations in leukocyte migration
In the August 2012 issue of Immunity, Scheiermann et al. describe a series of experiments that elegantly illustrate the patterns of leukocyte homing to the bone marrow and recruitment to skeletal muscle, and how they are affected by photic and adrenergic input. Scheiermann et al. begin by establishing that circadian oscillations are present in peripheral […]
Neuroendocrine-Immune Interactions in Lung Inflammatory Diseases
Overview article Inflammation is the body’s response to insults. During inflammation, various inflammatory cells are activated to release cytokines and mediators and orchestrate progressing inflammation. Clinically, pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome involve acute inflammation, whereas asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases represent chronic inflammation. Inflammation is regulated by both the immune and neuroendocrine systems. […]
Neural Meshwork Resembling Glass Fishing Float Envelops Antigen Presenting Cells in Lymphoid Organs
Posted on April 6, 2016 By Srinivasan ThyagaRajan Commentaries
Commentary on the study by Clemens Wülfing & Hauke S. Günther, Sci Rep, 2015, 5:16866 ‘Dendritic cells and macrophages neurally hard-wired in the lymph node’ The sympathetic neuronal control of immunity in primary and secondary lymphoid organs is exerted through “hard-wired” noradrenergic nerve terminals through the release of norepinephrine that interacts with the immune cells. […]