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Pulmonary innervation, inflammation and carcinogenesis

LIANG Yong Jie, ZHOU Ping, Warangkhana WONGBA, Juan GUARDIOLA, Jerome WALKER, Jerry YU

Department of Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA； Department ofPhysiology and Pathophysiology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China

Abstract

Lung cancer is a major medical problem. Despite advances in molecular biology and pharmacology, the outcome of lungcancer treatment is unsatisfactory. Clinically, inflammation and cancer are closely associated, and, genetically, these two processes areregulated by the same gene loci. Inflammation promotes cancer formation. Increasing evidence shows that neuroimmune interactioninvolving inflammatory disease and the vagus nerves are crucial in the interaction. Airway sensory receptors are biosensors that detectthe lung inflammatory process through various mediators and cytokines. This information is transmitted through vagal afferents to thebrain and produces a host of responses that regulate the extent and intensity of inflammation. Tumor cells express receptors forneurotransmitters and provide a substrate for direct interaction with neurons. Thus, neural regulation of the immune response istargeted towards inflammation as well as tumors. The airway sensors can detect cancer-related cytokines, which provides a directpathway to inform the brain of tumor growth. The knowledge of how these sensors may monitor tumor progression and provideneuroimmune interaction in the control of tumor development and metastasis will improve our treatment of lung cancer.

Key words: airway sensor; vagal afferent; cancer; lung; neuroimmune

Received: 2009-10-13　　Accepted: 2010-04-07

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Citing This Article：

LIANG Yong Jie, ZHOU Ping, Warangkhana WONGBA, Juan GUARDIOLA, Jerome WALKER, Jerry YU. Pulmonary innervation, inflammation and carcinogenesis. Acta Physiol Sin 2010; 62 (3): 191-195 (in Chinese with English abstract).