Research progress in neuro-immune interactions in Caenorhabditis elegans
- Author:
Jin-ling CAI
1
Author Information
1. School of Basic Medicine, Central South University
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Caenorhabditis elegans;
Neuroimmunomodulation;
Signal transduction
- From:
Medical Journal of Chinese People's Liberation Army
2012;37(9):744-748
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
The innate immune response may be activated quickly once the organism is invaded by exotic pathogens. An excessive immune response may result in inflammation and tissue damage, whereas an insufficient immune response may result in infection. Nervous system may regulate the intensity of innate immune responses by releasing neurotransmitters, neuropeptides and hormones. Compared with the complicated neuro-immune system in mammals, it is much simpler in Caenorhabditis elegans. Besides, C. elegans is accessible to genetic, molecular biology and behavioral analyses, so it has been used in studies on neuro-immune interactions. It has been revealed recently in the studies with C. elegans that the neuronal pathways regulating innate immune responses primarily include a transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) pathway, an insulin/insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF) pathway and dopaminergic neurotransmission. Since these pathways are evolutionally conservative, so it might be able to provide some new ideas for the research on neuro-immune interactions at molecular levels. The recent progress in this field has been reviewed in present paper.
