Genetic contact between the immune system and the nervous system

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have discovered a genetic link between the nervous system and the immune system in a worm, the finding could be a precursor to human therapies.

For a long time, researchers have hypothesized a link between the nervous system and the immune system, such as the signal of stress that overwhelms the protective effect of the resistant body, but until then. Now that relationship is still not well understood.

Alejandro Aballay, Ph.D. professor at Duke University's Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, said: 'This is the first time a genetic method has been used to prove that certain neurons in the nervous system. can regulate the immune response of distant cells'.

They studied the nervous system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

Aballay said: 'Research on the connection between the nervous system and the immune system in mammals is quite good. C. elegans' simple nervous system and the newly discovered innate immune system make it the research target. We can study the mechanism and biological significance of the interaction between the nervous system and the immune system. Our research is the start of a new field of research '.

Dr. Pamela Marino, who oversees the molecular immunology research grant at the National Academy of General Health Sciences at the National Institutes of Health, said: 'Dr. Aballay used diacritic knowledge. transmission of roundworms to find evidence of a connection between the nervous system and the innate immune system. This study not only shows the control of the nervous system for immunity but also opens up a new page for understanding how nerves affect other processes, such as fat accumulation and age. life.

The team used two methods to understand the genetic link between nerve cells and immune response cells.

Researchers have long hypothesized the link between the nervous system and the immune system, such as the signal of stress that overwhelms the protective effect of the resistant form, but so far the link That system is still not well understood.(Photo; iStockphoto / Sebastian Kaulitzki)

They found that NPR-1 , a worm receptor cell involved in proteins, similar to mammalian neuropeptide Y, has the function of limiting the activity of certain neurons that block the immune response. They then studied the worms with the mutant NPR-1 gene that produced inactive NPR-1 receptor cells. Scientists have shown that this receptor is inactive, neurons block the immune response and worms become susceptible to infection.

The three types of neurons that express the NPR-1 receptor are in the fluid of the round worms - like blood in the human body. Signals from neurons can move and interact with other tissues, such as intestinal tissue, which are often exposed to bacterial pathogens.

They also performed a full genome analysis in nematode, whose neuronal properties changed because of mutations in the NPR-1 gene. This analysis shows that animals are very limited in controlling the expression of coding genes that indicate the immune system's response. In particular, they found that most of the genes that signal immune are controlled by the P38 MAPK signaling pathway, which is necessary for the immune system in animals, from nematodes to humans.

Aballay said: 'The complexity of the network involves communication between the nervous system and the immune system, expanding the number of goals for therapeutic interventions. The nervous system provides a large number of targets for new methods to stimulate innate immune systems against various pathogens'.

The study was published in the journal Science on September 18, and funded by the Whitehaed Program and the National Institutes of Health.

Other authors include Katie L. Styer, Varsha Singh and Sarah E. Steele of Duke's Molecular and Microbiology Genetics Department, with Cornelia I. Bargmann and Evan Macosko of Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Laboratory. Operation of the nervous system at Rockefeller, New York University.