title: Exploring the Homeostatic and Sensory Roles of the Immune System.
abstract: Immunology developed under the notion of the immune system exists to fight pathogens. Recently, the discovery of interactions with commensal microbiota that are essential to human health initiated a change in this old paradigm. Here, we argue that the immune system has major physiological roles extending far beyond defending the host. Immune and inflammatory responses share the core property of sensing, defining the immune system also as a sensory system. The inference with the immune system collects, interprets, and stores information, while creating an identity of self, places it in close relationship to the nervous system, which suggests that these systems may have a profound evolutionary connection.
authors.affiliation: Immunopharmacology, Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais , Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais , Brazil.
authors.forename: Rafael Elias
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.affiliation: Immunopharmacology, Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais , Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais , Brazil.
authors.forename: Pedro Elias
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.affiliation: ISP, INRA, Université François Rabelais de Tours , Nouzilly , France.
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guabiraba
authors.affiliation: Immunopharmacology, Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais , Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais , Brazil.
authors.forename: Mauro Martins
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Teixeira
keywords: homeostasis; immune system; inflammation; information; nervous system; physiological role; sensing properties