Neuroimmunological Activities of Keratinocytes
Authors Sabrina Brenci , Vincenzo Rialdi , Giorgio Rialdi
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Tags catecholamines, lang_en, cytokines, stress, inflammation, keratinocytes, neuro-immunity
The scientific bases of the above reported concepts are the following:
- In vitro, keratinocytes have been shown to produce a cytokine cascade that is either able to attract cells of the immune system within its microenvironment or to modulate its functional capacities in loco (25). Moreover, keratinocyties express membrane bound proteins that interact in an autocrine fashion, with the cytokines they produce themselves and that interact by a paracrine mechanism with those secreted by the attracted immune competent cells (26).
- Keratinocytes express hormone receptors and have the fine biological machinery to produce hormonal substances in loco (29).
- Both the skin, as well as the immune system, are provided with direct sympathetic innervation that connects these structures directly with the hypothalamic nuclei.
These anatomic connections suggest that the skin and the immune and neuroendocrine systems possess the tools for an efficient cross-talk and reciprocal adjustment (27-28).
While the data concerning cytokine and hormone networks are based on experimental evidence, the ones concerning the sympato-immune-cutaneous network require experimental work to be fully delineated. Recently, we demonstrated that human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) are able to produce catecholamines (CA), (30).
Moreover, preliminary observations strongly suggest that inhibiting catecholamine synthesis by PBL affects their in vitro proliferative responsiveness to antigenic stimulation (Table 5).
The aims of this study were:
- to analyze the capability of keratinocytes to produce catecholamines.
- To investigate the biological mechanism involved in the modulation of the interaction between keratinocytes and the neuroendocrine system.