title: VIP- and PACAP-mediated immunomodulation as prospective therapeutic tools.
abstract: The immune system and the brain continuously signal to each other, often along the same pathways, which might explain the connection between immunity, the brain and disease. Neuropeptides and their receptors represent part of this communication network, and recent work has examined their relevance to health, proving a potentially crucial clinical significance. The structurally related neuropeptides, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP), are emerging as a means of fine tuning in the maintenance a balanced steady state in the immune system. Murine knockout and transgenic models for a VIP receptor suggest that VIP is an endogenous anti-inflammatory mediator with characteristics resembling those of a T-helper-2 cytokine. Thus, through molecular mechanisms that are being discovered, VIP might extend the range of therapeutic treatments available for various disorders, including acute and chronic inflammatory diseases, septic shock and autoimmune diseases.
authors.affiliation: Immunology Division, Department of Pathology, Cambridge University, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QP, UK. dp260@mole.bio.cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pozo
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D051219:Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: C495402:Adcyap1 protein, mouse; D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D009479:Neuropeptides; D051219:Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide