Evidence of Long-range nerve pathways connecting and coordinating activity in secondary lymph organs
Abstract Background Peripheral nerve reflexes enable organ systems to maintain long-term physiological homeostasis while responding to rapidly changing environmental conditions. Electrical nerve stimulation is commonly used to activate these reflexes and modulate organ function, giving rise to an em...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
BMC
2020-10-01
|
Series: | Bioelectronic Medicine |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42234-020-00056-2 |
id |
doaj-713cfed1d6a941f6a6b059f4d0ceadd2 |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-713cfed1d6a941f6a6b059f4d0ceadd22020-11-25T03:40:44ZengBMCBioelectronic Medicine2332-88862020-10-016111410.1186/s42234-020-00056-2Evidence of Long-range nerve pathways connecting and coordinating activity in secondary lymph organsVictoria Cotero0Tzu-Jen Kao1John Graf2Jeffrey Ashe3Christine Morton4Sangeeta S. Chavan5Stavros Zanos6Kevin J. Tracey7Christopher M. Puleo8General Electric ResearchGeneral Electric ResearchGeneral Electric ResearchGeneral Electric ResearchGeneral Electric ResearchFeinstein Institutes for Medical ResearchFeinstein Institutes for Medical ResearchFeinstein Institutes for Medical ResearchGeneral Electric ResearchAbstract Background Peripheral nerve reflexes enable organ systems to maintain long-term physiological homeostasis while responding to rapidly changing environmental conditions. Electrical nerve stimulation is commonly used to activate these reflexes and modulate organ function, giving rise to an emerging class of therapeutics called bioelectronic medicines. Dogma maintains that immune cell migration to and from organs is mediated by inflammatory signals (i.e. cytokines or pathogen associated signaling molecules). However, nerve reflexes that regulate immune function have only recently been elucidated, and stimulation of these reflexes for therapeutic effect has not been fully investigated. Methods We utilized both electrical and ultrasound-based nerve stimulation to activate nerve pathways projecting to specific lymph nodes. Tissue and cell analysis of the stimulated lymph node, distal lymph nodes and immune organs is then utilized to measure the stimulation-induced changes in neurotransmitter/neuropeptide concentrations and immune cellularity in each of these sites. Results and conclusions In this report, we demonstrate that activation of nerves and stimulated release of neurotransmitters within a local lymph node results in transient retention of immune cells (e.g. lymphocytes and neutrophils) at that location. Furthermore, such stimulation results in transient changes in neurotransmitter concentrations at distal organs of the immune system, spleen and liver, and mobilization of immune cells into the circulation. This report will enable future studies in which stimulation of these long-range nerve connections between lymphatic and immune organs can be applied for clinical purpose, including therapeutic modulation of cellularity during vaccination, active allergic response, or active auto-immune disease.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42234-020-00056-2NeuromodulationBioelectronic medicineImmunologyNeuroscienceNeural immune reflexesBiomedical engineering |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Victoria Cotero Tzu-Jen Kao John Graf Jeffrey Ashe Christine Morton Sangeeta S. Chavan Stavros Zanos Kevin J. Tracey Christopher M. Puleo |
spellingShingle |
Victoria Cotero Tzu-Jen Kao John Graf Jeffrey Ashe Christine Morton Sangeeta S. Chavan Stavros Zanos Kevin J. Tracey Christopher M. Puleo Evidence of Long-range nerve pathways connecting and coordinating activity in secondary lymph organs Bioelectronic Medicine Neuromodulation Bioelectronic medicine Immunology Neuroscience Neural immune reflexes Biomedical engineering |
author_facet |
Victoria Cotero Tzu-Jen Kao John Graf Jeffrey Ashe Christine Morton Sangeeta S. Chavan Stavros Zanos Kevin J. Tracey Christopher M. Puleo |
author_sort |
Victoria Cotero |
title |
Evidence of Long-range nerve pathways connecting and coordinating activity in secondary lymph organs |
title_short |
Evidence of Long-range nerve pathways connecting and coordinating activity in secondary lymph organs |
title_full |
Evidence of Long-range nerve pathways connecting and coordinating activity in secondary lymph organs |
title_fullStr |
Evidence of Long-range nerve pathways connecting and coordinating activity in secondary lymph organs |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evidence of Long-range nerve pathways connecting and coordinating activity in secondary lymph organs |
title_sort |
evidence of long-range nerve pathways connecting and coordinating activity in secondary lymph organs |
publisher |
BMC |
series |
Bioelectronic Medicine |
issn |
2332-8886 |
publishDate |
2020-10-01 |
description |
Abstract Background Peripheral nerve reflexes enable organ systems to maintain long-term physiological homeostasis while responding to rapidly changing environmental conditions. Electrical nerve stimulation is commonly used to activate these reflexes and modulate organ function, giving rise to an emerging class of therapeutics called bioelectronic medicines. Dogma maintains that immune cell migration to and from organs is mediated by inflammatory signals (i.e. cytokines or pathogen associated signaling molecules). However, nerve reflexes that regulate immune function have only recently been elucidated, and stimulation of these reflexes for therapeutic effect has not been fully investigated. Methods We utilized both electrical and ultrasound-based nerve stimulation to activate nerve pathways projecting to specific lymph nodes. Tissue and cell analysis of the stimulated lymph node, distal lymph nodes and immune organs is then utilized to measure the stimulation-induced changes in neurotransmitter/neuropeptide concentrations and immune cellularity in each of these sites. Results and conclusions In this report, we demonstrate that activation of nerves and stimulated release of neurotransmitters within a local lymph node results in transient retention of immune cells (e.g. lymphocytes and neutrophils) at that location. Furthermore, such stimulation results in transient changes in neurotransmitter concentrations at distal organs of the immune system, spleen and liver, and mobilization of immune cells into the circulation. This report will enable future studies in which stimulation of these long-range nerve connections between lymphatic and immune organs can be applied for clinical purpose, including therapeutic modulation of cellularity during vaccination, active allergic response, or active auto-immune disease. |
topic |
Neuromodulation Bioelectronic medicine Immunology Neuroscience Neural immune reflexes Biomedical engineering |
url |
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42234-020-00056-2 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT victoriacotero evidenceoflongrangenervepathwaysconnectingandcoordinatingactivityinsecondarylymphorgans AT tzujenkao evidenceoflongrangenervepathwaysconnectingandcoordinatingactivityinsecondarylymphorgans AT johngraf evidenceoflongrangenervepathwaysconnectingandcoordinatingactivityinsecondarylymphorgans AT jeffreyashe evidenceoflongrangenervepathwaysconnectingandcoordinatingactivityinsecondarylymphorgans AT christinemorton evidenceoflongrangenervepathwaysconnectingandcoordinatingactivityinsecondarylymphorgans AT sangeetaschavan evidenceoflongrangenervepathwaysconnectingandcoordinatingactivityinsecondarylymphorgans AT stavroszanos evidenceoflongrangenervepathwaysconnectingandcoordinatingactivityinsecondarylymphorgans AT kevinjtracey evidenceoflongrangenervepathwaysconnectingandcoordinatingactivityinsecondarylymphorgans AT christophermpuleo evidenceoflongrangenervepathwaysconnectingandcoordinatingactivityinsecondarylymphorgans |
_version_ |
1724533099487821824 |