Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, 75235; Division of Hypothalamic Research, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, 75235.
J Comp Neurol. 2013 Nov;521(16):3741-67. doi: 10.1002/cne.23376.
Accumulating evidence demonstrates that acetylcholine can directly modulate immune function in peripheral tissues including the spleen and gastrointestinal tract. However, the anatomical relationships between the peripheral cholinergic system and immune cells located in these lymphoid tissues remain unclear due to inherent technical difficulties with currently available neuroanatomical methods. In this study, mice with specific expression of the tdTomato fluorescent protein in choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)-expressing cells were used to label preganglionic and postganglionic cholinergic neurons and their projections to lymphoid tissues. Notably, our anatomical observations revealed an abundant innervation in the intestinal lamina propria of the entire gastrointestinal tract principally originating from cholinergic enteric neurons. The aforementioned innervation frequently approached macrophages, plasma cells, and lymphocytes located in the lamina propria and, to a lesser extent, lymphocytes in the interfollicular areas of Peyer's patches. In addition to the above innervation, we observed labeled epithelial cells in the gallbladder and lower intestines, as well as Microfold cells and T-cells within Peyer's patches. In contrast, we found only a sparse innervation in the spleen consisting of neuronal fibers of spinal origin present around arterioles and in lymphocyte-containing areas of the white pulp. Lastly, a small population of ChAT-expressing lymphocytes was identified in the spleen including both T- and B-cells. In summary, this study describes the variety of cholinergic neuronal and nonneuronal cells in a position to modulate gastrointestinal and splenic immunity in the mouse.
越来越多的证据表明,乙酰胆碱可以直接调节外周组织(包括脾脏和胃肠道)中的免疫功能。然而,由于目前神经解剖学方法所固有的技术困难,外周胆碱能系统与位于这些淋巴组织中的免疫细胞之间的解剖关系仍不清楚。在这项研究中,使用特异性表达 tdTomato 荧光蛋白的小鼠来标记表达胆碱乙酰转移酶(ChAT)的细胞中的节前和节后胆碱能神经元及其向淋巴组织的投射。值得注意的是,我们的解剖观察显示,整个胃肠道的固有层中存在丰富的肠神经支配,主要来源于胆碱能肠神经元。上述神经支配经常接近固有层中的巨噬细胞、浆细胞和淋巴细胞,以及派尔氏斑滤泡间区的淋巴细胞,程度较轻。除了上述神经支配外,我们还观察到胆囊和下肠道中的标记上皮细胞,以及派尔氏斑中的微褶皱细胞和 T 细胞。相比之下,我们只在脾脏中发现了稀疏的神经支配,包括存在于小动脉周围和白髓含淋巴细胞区域的脊神经纤维。最后,在脾脏中鉴定出一小部分表达 ChAT 的淋巴细胞,包括 T 细胞和 B 细胞。总之,这项研究描述了在小鼠中能够调节胃肠道和脾脏免疫的各种胆碱能神经元和非神经元细胞。