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Review
. 2022 Sep 13:13:984678.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.984678. eCollection 2022.

The immune system as a system of relations

Marc Daëron  1   2   3
Affiliations
Review

The immune system as a system of relations

Marc Daëron. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Progress in neuroimmunology established that the nervous and the immune systems are two functionally related physiological systems. Unique sensory and immune receptors enable them to control interactions of the organism with the inner and the outer worlds. Both systems undergo an experience-driven selection process during their ontogeny. They share the same mediators/neurotransmitters and use synapses for intercellular communication. They keep a memory of previous experiences. Immune cells can affect nervous cells, nervous cells can affect immune cells, and they regulate each other. I however argue that the two systems differ by three major points: 1) Unlike the nervous system, the immune system has a loose anatomical structure, in which molecular and cellular events mostly occur at random; 2) The immune system can respond to molecules of the living world whereas the nervous system can respond to phenomena of the physical world; 3) Responses of the immune system act both on the organism and on the stimulus that triggered the response, whereas responses of the nervous system act on the organism only. The nervous and the immune systems therefore appear as two complementary systems of relations that closely work together, and whose reactivities are well-suited to deal with physical and biological stimuli, respectively. Its ability both to adapt the organism to the living world and to adapt the living world to the organism endows the immune system with powerful adaptive properties that enable the organism to live in peace with itself and with other living beings, whether pathogens or commensals.

Keywords: adaptation; immune system; nervous system; physiology; system of relations.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The cognitive and functional repertoires of the immune system and of the nervous system. Biological molecules stimulate immune cells that express immunoreceptors (TCRs, BCRs, NCRs) or pattern recognition receptors (TLRs, NLRs, CLRs), leading to the production and/or the activation of effector cells (T lymphocytes, ILCs, myeloid cells), and of molecules (cytokines, antibodies) which act on biological molecules that triggered the response. Physical phenomena stimulate sensory receptors of the nervous system which engender nervous influxes that propagate in neural networks, leading to the activation of effector cells (skeletal muscles, smooth muscles) that act on the organism. Microorganisms and/or their products can stimulate immune cells by engaging immunoreceptors (TCRs, BCRs, NCRs) on lymphocytes and ILCs, and pattern-recognition receptors (TLRs, NLRs) on myeloid cells, nervous cells (neurons and glial cells) and other cells (e.g. epithelial cells). Molecular and cellular immune effectors can act on organisms that triggered the response, but also on neurons that express cytokine receptors. Neuronal effectors can act on immune cells that express receptors for neuromediators. Effector molecules (e.g., cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, etc.) secreted by other cells (e.g. epithelial cells) can act on immune cells (e.g., ILCs) and nervous cells (e.g., sensory neurons).
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