Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López-Neyra, CSIC, Granada, Spain.
Neuroimmunomodulation. 2010;17(3):161-4. doi: 10.1159/000258713. Epub 2010 Feb 4.
Identification of the factors that regulate the immune tolerance and control the appearance of exacerbated inflammatory conditions is crucial for the development of new therapies of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Although much is known about the molecular basis of initiating signals and pro-inflammatory chemical mediators in inflammation, it has only recently become apparent that endogenous stop signals are critical at early checkpoints within the temporal events of inflammation. Some neuropeptides and hormones that are produced during the ongoing inflammatory response have emerged as endogenous anti-inflammatory agents that participate in the regulation of the processes that ensure self-tolerance and/or inflammation resolution. We will examine the latest research findings, which indicate that neuropeptides participate in maintaining immune tolerance in two distinct ways: by regulating the balance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory factors, and by inducing the emergence of regulatory T cells with suppressive activity against autoreactive T cell effectors. We will also examine the role of some of these neuropeptides as mediators of innate defense acting as natural antimicrobial peptides. Both anti-inflammatory and pro-resolving neuropeptides have shown therapeutic potential for a variety of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders and could be used as biotemplates for the development of novel pharmacologic agents. From a physiological point of view, neuropeptides play a critical role in the innate-adaptive immune cross talk that allows survival.
鉴定调控免疫耐受和控制炎症加剧的因素，对于开发炎症和自身免疫性疾病的新疗法至关重要。尽管人们对炎症起始信号和促炎化学介质的分子基础了解颇多，但最近才发现内源性终止信号在炎症的时间事件中的早期检查点至关重要。一些在持续炎症反应中产生的神经肽和激素已成为内源性抗炎剂，参与调节确保自身耐受和/或炎症消退的过程。我们将研究最新的研究结果，这些结果表明，神经肽通过两种不同的方式参与维持免疫耐受：通过调节促炎和抗炎因子之间的平衡，以及通过诱导具有抑制自身反应性 T 细胞效应器活性的调节性 T 细胞的出现。我们还将研究其中一些神经肽作为先天防御介质的作用，作为天然抗菌肽。具有抗炎和促解决作用的神经肽已显示出对多种炎症和自身免疫性疾病的治疗潜力，可作为开发新型药物的生物模板。从生理学的角度来看，神经肽在允许生存的先天-适应性免疫对话中发挥关键作用。
