PNAS interpretation! How do the body's nerve cells evolve to communicate with microorganisms?

July 30, 2020 // A variety of digestive tract diseases, such as severe intestinal infections in humans, are closely related to the natural motor disorders of the intestines, and the microbiome plays a key role in the rhythmic contraction (creep) of the intestines, and is one of the most in-depth research by scientists, who do not yet know how these contractions are controlled and how nervous cell cells that act as pacemakers work together with the microbiome.
, in a recent study published in the international journal PNAS, scientists from The University of Kiel and others systematically illustratehow how aging neurons communicate with bacteria by using freshwater otters as a template, surprisingly, researchers have found that nerve cells communicate with microbes through immune receptors, which are in some ways related to the mechanisms of the immune system.
based on this, the researchers have come up with the hypothesis that the nervous system does not just take over sensory and motor functions from the very beginning of evolution, but is responsible for communicating with microorganisms.
picture source: Dr Alexander Klimovich researchers studied the simple neural network of the system's ancient freshwater otters, which functions like the so-called intestinal nervous system of vertebrates, which controls the movement of the digestive tract, and then the researchers made two important observations, first successfully identifying the special cells responsible for the contraction of the rhythm of the stomach cavity in the otter nervous system.
after a high-throughput study of samples from patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), the researchers found a special gene that could induce intestinal peristaltic disorders in humans, and on the basis of which the researchers studied otters to look for genetically active cells, and finally they found a small number of nerve cells in the nervous system of the ancient organism.
blocking the activity of these genes in otters can lead to a sharp decline in the body's rhythmic contraction, the researchers say, because these genes do control the creeping pace cells, because these genes were first found in ibS patient samples, so the researchers speculate that these neurons are the central control unit of the animal's early evolution, which regulates the complex functions of the body.
the researchers then produced a second very surprising result, when detailed genetic analysis of the single nerve cells of otters showed that they could use congenital immune system tools to have a direct impact on the density and composition of symbiotic bacteria, and that the presence or interference of the microbiome could have a significant impact on intestinal contraction and regularity, and that the latest study showed that it was a systematic and ancient regulatory system in which some neurons and symbiotic bacteria may play a key role in the development almost the same.
researcher Dr. Alexander Klimovich, noted that our observations reveal that nerve cells are able to perceive and react to microorganisms, and that, based on this, neurons use receptors found in other immune systems, activated pace cells release specific molecules such as antimicrobial peptides, which then have a significant impact on the presence or non-existence of specific microorganisms.
in a subsequent study, the researchers compared the molecular toolboxes of pacemaker neurons in mice and nematodes with those found in otters, and found that communication between pacemaker cells and microorganisms may also occur in other organisms, and that more detailed analysis showed that pacemaker cells in the mice's guts also appeared to have immune receptors that communicated with the microbes in the same way. 'We believe that the interaction between neurons and microorganisms through immune receptors is an evolutionaryly highly conservative basic principle, and that this link between the nervous system and the microbiome may have been first developed in otters 650 million years ago, ' said Klimovich, a researcher at the
.
studies may provide strong evidence that the emergence of the nervous system has been closely related to symbiotic microorganisms from the start, so researchers may need to rethink the evolution of the immune system and the nervous system, and the results of the survey of otters suggest that even the oldest evolutionary nervous system interacts with microbes, possibly in order to communicate with microbes that are important to the body.
if this assumption holds true, it could help researchers to develop new ideas and horizons for developing new treatments for human intestinal diseases caused by intestinal disorders, so the correlation between the state of the microbiome and intestinal wriggling is likely to exist in humans, and future researchers will need to conduct more in-depth research to reveal the key role of nerve cells in the development and therapy of inflammatory bowel disease, better understand the pathogenesis of disease, and to develop close interventions in the microbiotics to promote healthy intestinal activity.
() Source: "1) Researchers study for the nerve cells evolved to talk to microbes 2" Alexander Klimovich, Stefania Giacomello, et al.