Cao Ying, Liu Tingting, Zhou Xin, Fu Wei, Li Jiali, Yang Jing
State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, School of Life Sciences, Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Fundam Res. 2022 Mar 12;3(2):249-256. doi: 10.1016/j.fmre.2022.03.002. eCollection 2023 Mar.
Direct neural inputs to immune organs have been observed for decades, with their functions in neuroimmune regulation being increasingly appreciated. However, the current knowledge of such neural structures, particularly those in primate immune organs, remains incomplete. In this study, we comprehensively assessed the 3D anatomy of autonomic (i.e., sympathetic and parasympathetic) innervations in the immune organs of the rhesus macaque monkey and the human for the first time. Aided with the advanced technique of whole-tissue immunolabeling and lightsheet fluorescence imaging, we revealed the densely organized sympathetic architecture in the parenchyma of the adult monkey and human spleens. On the other hand, only sparse, if any, sympathetic inputs were observed inside the lymph nodes, Peyer's patches, or thymus. In contrast, there were minimal parasympathetic innervations in the parenchyma of these examined immune organs. Together, this work has documented the unique patterns of autonomic innervations in different immune organs of a non-human primate and the human, serving as an essential reference for future research on neuroimmune regulation in the field.
数十年来,人们已经观察到神经对免疫器官的直接输入,其在神经免疫调节中的功能也越来越受到重视。然而,目前对于这类神经结构的了解,尤其是灵长类动物免疫器官中的神经结构,仍然不完整。在本研究中,我们首次全面评估了恒河猴和人类免疫器官中自主神经(即交感神经和副交感神经)支配的三维解剖结构。借助全组织免疫标记和光片荧光成像的先进技术,我们揭示了成年猴和人类脾脏实质中密集组织的交感神经结构。另一方面,在淋巴结、派尔集合淋巴结或胸腺内部,仅观察到稀疏的交感神经输入(如果有的话)。相比之下,在这些被检查的免疫器官实质中,副交感神经支配极少。总之,这项工作记录了非人类灵长类动物和人类不同免疫器官中自主神经支配的独特模式,为该领域未来的神经免疫调节研究提供了重要参考。