Catecholamine production by Foxp3+ Regulatory T cells and its role in Treg cells differentiation and suppressive function in vitro and in vivo.

• Grant number: 13/13110-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: January 01, 2014
• End date: December 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Immunology - Cellular Immunology
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre Salgado Basso
• Grantee: Marcia Grando Guereschi
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 08/58564-9 - Study of adaptive immune response modulation by the sympathetic nervous system: emphasis on autoimmunity, Th17 cells and Foxp3 + regulatory T cells, AP.JP

Abstract

Although well established, the concept that nervous system and immune systems interact closely with each other is still poorly designed in studies that look for understanding the events involved in the generation and regulation of adaptive immune responses and the occurrence of autoimmune diseases. Secretion of catecholamines by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is one of the ways in which the immune and nervous systems crosstalk. CD4+ T cells are able to receive signals from the SNS as they express catecholamine receptors. In addition, immune cells seem to be able to produce de novo catecholamines using specific intracellular machinery. Moreover, we found the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase, a key enzyme in the catecholamines production, in Foxp3+ regulatory T cells. We also observed that B2-adrenergicreceptor signaling in regulatory T cells increases their suppressive function, suggesting an important role of noradrenaline in the regulation of an immune response. However, very little is known about how the catecholamines, in an autocrine or paracrine manner, can modulate the immune system, as well as the ways in which the SNS influence the course of immune responses. Thus, this project aims to study the role ofcatecholamines, mainly noradrenaline, in the differentiation and function of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in vitro and i in vivo.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

TAKENAKA, MAISA C.; GUERESCHI, MARCIA G.; BASSO, ALEXANDRE S.. Neuroimmune interactions: dendritic cell modulation by the sympathetic nervous system. SEMINARS IN IMMUNOPATHOLOGY, v. 39, n. 2, p. 165-176, FEB 2017. (14/24156-2, 13/13110-9, 08/58564-9)