A Worm's Gut Feelings: Neuronal Muscarinic and Epithelial Canonical Wnt Pathways Promote Antimicrobial Defense

Romana R Gerner; Manuela Raffatellu

doi:10.1016/j.immuni.2018.04.035

A Worm's Gut Feelings: Neuronal Muscarinic and Epithelial Canonical Wnt Pathways Promote Antimicrobial Defense

Immunity. 2018 May 15;48(5):839-841. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2018.04.035.

Authors

Romana R Gerner¹, Manuela Raffatellu²

Affiliations

¹ Division of Host-Microbe Systems and Therapeutics, Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
² Division of Host-Microbe Systems and Therapeutics, Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Chiba University-UC San Diego Center for Mucosal Immunology, Allergy, and Vaccines (CU-UCSD cMAV), La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA; Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. Electronic address: manuelar@ucsd.edu.

PMID: 29768168
DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2018.04.035

Abstract

Molecular mechanisms connecting the gut-brain axis to immunity remain elusive. In this issue of Immunity, Labed et al. (2018) demonstrate that two evolutionarily conserved signaling mechanisms, the neuronal muscarinic and the epithelial Wnt pathways, together induce antimicrobial peptide expression that protects Caenorhabditis elegans against intestinal infection.

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MeSH terms

Acetylcholine
Animals
Anti-Infective Agents
Caenorhabditis elegans
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins*
Cholinergic Agents
Emotions
Wnt Signaling Pathway*

Substances

Anti-Infective Agents
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
Cholinergic Agents
Acetylcholine