The following is the summary of “Neuroimmune crosstalk in the cornea: The role of immune cells in corneal nerve maintenance during homeostasis and inflammation” published in November 2022 issue of Retinal and eye research by Wu, et al.
Consistent with their crucial functions in homeostasis and inflammation involving nerve maintenance, resident immune cells are located in close proximity to sensory nerves in the cornea. Researchers have come a long way in understanding the physical and functional interactions between corneal nerves and immune cells thanks to the use of in vivo confocal microscopy in humans, ex vivo immunostaining, and fluorescent reporter mice. Recent research on the immune cornea’s cells and sensory nerves the cornea, as well as their interactions in health and disease, are summarized and discussed here.
For this discussion, investigators focus on how damaged corneal nerve axons might trigger immune cell activity in dendritic cells, macrophages, and other invading cells, either directly or indirectly, through the release of neuropeptides such substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptides. In this review, they compile the expanding body of information suggesting that corneal intraepithelial immune cells play a unique role in corneal wound healing compared to other inflammatory-dominated situations.
It is also discussed how stromal macrophages with anti-inflammatory phenotypes communicate with corneal nerves to provide neuroprotection, while macrophages with pro-inflammatory phenotypes, along with other infiltrating cells like neutrophils and CD4+ T cells, can be inhibitory to corneal re-innervation. Last but not least, this overview considers the 2-way communication between immune cells cornea and the neurons in the cornea, and how harnessing this communication could be a therapeutic approach for corneal neuropathy.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1350946222000659
