In fighting gut infections, nervous system is key, Yale-Harvard team finds
Thursday, January 9, 2020 - 16:00
in Biology & Nature
The peaceful and delicate co-existence of friendly gut bacteria and the immune system relies on highly coordinated information exchange between immune system cells and certain cells lining the intestine. Scientists have discovered that, in response to bacterial invaders, nerve cells within the intestine -- and not immune cells or cells lining the intestinal wall -- release infection-fighting cytokines.