| Autor: |
Tamari M; Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA; email: mtamari@wustl.edu, briankim@wustl.edu.; Center for the Study of Itch and Sensory Disorders, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA; email: averheul@wustl.edu.; Department of Pediatrics, Jikei University School of Medicine, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan., Ver Heul AM; Center for the Study of Itch and Sensory Disorders, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA; email: averheul@wustl.edu.; Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA., Kim BS; Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA; email: mtamari@wustl.edu, briankim@wustl.edu.; Center for the Study of Itch and Sensory Disorders, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA; email: averheul@wustl.edu.; Department of Anesthesiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA.; Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA. |
| Abstrakt: |
Classically, skin was considered a mere structural barrier protecting organisms from a diversity of environmental insults. In recent decades, the cutaneous immune system has become recognized as a complex immunologic barrier involved in both antimicrobial immunity and homeostatic processes like wound healing. To sense a variety of chemical, mechanical, and thermal stimuli, the skin harbors one of the most sophisticated sensory networks in the body. However, recent studies suggest that the cutaneous nervous system is highly integrated with the immune system to encode specific sensations into evolutionarily conserved protective behaviors. In addition to directly sensing pathogens, neurons employ novel neuroimmune mechanisms to provide host immunity. Therefore, given that sensation underlies various physiologies through increasingly complex reflex arcs, a much more dynamic picture is emerging of the skin as a truly systemic organ with highly coordinated physical, immunologic, and neural functions in barrier immunology. |
