Effect of adrenergic signaling in macrophage polarization in vitro

• Grant number: 16/06693-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2016
• End date: June 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Immunology - Cellular Immunology
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre Salgado Basso
• Grantee: Beatriz Marton Freire
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

It is has been already established in the literature that the nervous system interacts with the immune system and these interactions could modulate immunological responses upon different stimulus. This project has as objective to investigate the consequences of this interaction in the macrophage polarization towards M1 or M2. The known Macrophages M1 are cells with a pro-inflammatory profile characterized by enhanced phagocytosis and microbicide function and that release an array of cytokines such as IL-12, TNF-alpha, IL6 and IL1-beta that can stimulate inflammation and Th1 responses. On the other hand, the M2 profile is, thus, different from the M1, it is characterized by the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-10. It has already been describe that macrophages can express different subtypes of alpha-adrenergic receptors (alpha-1a, alpha-1b, alpha-1d e alpha-2a, alpha-2b, alpha-2c) and of beta- adrenergic receptors (beta-1, beta-2 e beta-3). The mostly expressed receptors on the macrophage surface are alpha-2 and beta-2 and, thus, it will the focus of this project. These receptors are stimulated by the noradrenaline and adrenaline. This project will investigate whether or not the stimulation, in vitro, with specifics ligants of adrenergic receptors Beta-2 or alpha-2a expressed on the macrophages' surface is able to modulate the polarization of these cells in M1 or M2.