Neuro-immune proteomic crosstalk in health and disease: partners in love, partners in divorce

The permanent neuro-immune dialogue is required for normal brain function. Both systems use the same molecular language; they are covered with similar receptors for neurotransmitters, cytokines, chemokines and trophic factors. Neuronal cells actively participate in the brain immune response whereas glial cells are involved in neurotransmission. In disease condition, this dialogue is significantly impaired, the neuro-immune signaling is not properly regulated, neurons can either overactivate glial cells or on the other hand they can downregulate glial immune response. The abnormal signaling can be further modulated by genetic background, which can explain the different sensitivity of patients to human neurodegenerative disorders. In our study we focused on the ‘ON’ and ‘OFF’ signaling which is widely used by neurons to switch on or switch off the glial activity. The lecture will act as a guided tour through the highly variable neuro-immune kingdom, where sometimes partners can live in peace but sometimes they do not understand each other.