Mei Yixiao, Zhou Bing-Lin, Zhong Da, Zheng Xuan-Jie, Deng Yu-Tao, Yu Lina, Jiang Bao-Chun
Department of Anesthesiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Pain Perception and Neuromodulation, Hangzhou, China.
Front Immunol. 2025 May 16;16:1575917. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1575917. eCollection 2025.
The peripheral sensory nervous system (PNS) has been widely recognized for its role in the collection, processing, and transmission of sensory information, including thermal, mechanical, chemical, and proprioceptive stimuli. In recent years, there has been a growing scholarly interest in the PNS attributable to its multiple physiological and pathophysiological non-sensory roles in the organs it innervates. The PNS exerts regulatory functions within the organs it innervates through direct interactions with local cells or through microbe-nerve-cell interactions that differ from the traditional feedback regulatory modes used by the hormonal and sensory brain-sympathetic/parasympathetic systems. The release of the neuropeptide calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) by nerves, through its action on CGRP receptors in peripheral cells, constitutes a primary molecular axis for PNS regulation of organ cells, maintaining tissue homeostasis, facilitating pathological processes, and modulating innate and adaptive immunity. This review highlights the non-sensory functions of the peripheral sensory nervous system in various tissues and organs, focusing on phenotypes, molecular mechanisms and their significance, while also exploring future research directions, methodologies and potential preclinical studies aimed at targeting these pathways for the development of novel therapies.
外周感觉神经系统（PNS）在收集、处理和传递感觉信息（包括热、机械、化学和本体感觉刺激）方面的作用已得到广泛认可。近年来，由于PNS在其支配的器官中具有多种生理和病理生理非感觉功能，学术界对其的兴趣与日俱增。PNS通过与局部细胞的直接相互作用或通过与传统激素和感觉脑-交感/副交感神经系统所使用的反馈调节模式不同的微生物-神经-细胞相互作用，在其支配的器官内发挥调节功能。神经释放的神经肽降钙素基因相关肽（CGRP）通过作用于外周细胞中的CGRP受体，构成了PNS调节器官细胞、维持组织稳态、促进病理过程以及调节先天和适应性免疫的主要分子轴。本综述重点介绍了外周感觉神经系统在各种组织和器官中的非感觉功能，关注其表型、分子机制及其意义，同时还探讨了未来的研究方向、方法以及旨在针对这些途径开发新疗法的潜在临床前研究。
