title: Neuroimmunity: Physiology and Pathology.
abstract: Evolution has yielded multiple complex and complementary mechanisms to detect environmental danger and protect tissues from damage. The nervous system rapidly processes information and coordinates complex defense behaviors, and the immune system eliminates diverse threats by virtue of mobile, specialized cell populations. The two systems are tightly integrated, cooperating in local and systemic reflexes that restore homeostasis in response to tissue injury and infection. They further share a broad common language of cytokines, growth factors, and neuropeptides that enables bidirectional communication. However, this reciprocal cross talk permits amplification of maladaptive feedforward inflammatory loops that contribute to the development of allergy, autoimmunity, itch, and pain. Appreciating the immune and nervous systems as a holistic, coordinated defense system provides both new insights into inflammation and exciting opportunities for managing acute and chronic inflammatory diseases.
authors.affiliation: F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115; email: Clifford.Woolf@childrens.harvard.edu.|Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Talbot
authors.affiliation: F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115; email: Clifford.Woolf@childrens.harvard.edu.|Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
authors.forename: Simmie L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Foster
authors.affiliation: F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115; email: Clifford.Woolf@childrens.harvard.edu.|Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
authors.forename: Clifford J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Woolf
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015551:Autoimmunity; D002450:Cell Communication; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007249:Inflammation; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015213:Neuroimmunomodulation; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000378:metabolism; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D009479:Neuropeptides
keywords: NaV1.8; TRPV1; allergy; asthma; immunity; inflammation; nociceptor; pain; pathogen