Neuroendocrine Crosstalk of Immunity

A wide variety of diseases and disorders ranging from Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular disease to cancer are associated with the cryptic nature of inflammation and the strength of immune responsiveness. Despite impressive progress in the field of immunology during the last century, the exact triggers and magnitude controllers that regulate the dynamics of immune functions and their regulatory networks are far from being completely understood. An emerging body of evidence lends strong support that immune system interacts with the nervous and endocrine systems and the three follow overlapping mechanisms of gene regulation, signaling, cell communication and supracellular organization. In fact, the central nervous system, peripheral nervous system, the endocrine system and the immune system together form an interactive cross-system network [1]. Such a cross-system interaction adds to the already complex and vast heterogeneity and plasticity of immune cells.