Department of Cancer Biology and Genetics, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.
The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, Columbus, OH, United States.
Front Immunol. 2021 Jul 28;12:695859. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.695859. eCollection 2021.
The environment of an organism can convey a powerful influence over its biology. Environmental enrichment (EE), as a eustress model, has been used extensively in neuroscience to study neurogenesis and brain plasticity. EE has also been used as an intervention for the treatment and prevention of neurological and psychiatric disorders with limited clinical application. By contrast, the effects of EE on the immune system are relatively less investigated. Recently, accumulating evidence has demonstrated that EE can robustly impact immune function. In this review, we summarize the major components of EE, the impact of EE on natural killer (NK) cells, EE's immunoprotective roles in cancer, and the underlying mechanisms of EE-induced NK cell regulation. Moreover, we discuss opportunities for translational application based on insights from animal research of EE-induced NK cell regulation.
生物体的环境可以对其生物学产生强大的影响。环境丰富（EE）作为一种正压模型，已被广泛应用于神经科学研究中，以研究神经发生和大脑可塑性。EE 也被用作治疗和预防神经和精神疾病的干预措施，但临床应用有限。相比之下，EE 对免疫系统的影响相对较少被研究。最近，越来越多的证据表明，EE 可以强烈影响免疫功能。在这篇综述中，我们总结了 EE 的主要组成部分、EE 对自然杀伤 (NK) 细胞的影响、EE 在癌症中的免疫保护作用以及 EE 诱导 NK 细胞调节的潜在机制。此外，我们还讨论了基于动物研究中 EE 诱导 NK 细胞调节的见解，探讨了转化应用的机会。
