Neuro-Immune Crosstalk in Disease and Therapy

Organisers: Rym Benkhalifa and Krister Kristensson

Recent findings have made it evident that the nervous system and the immune system share not only several signalling molecules and their receptors but also a number of ion channels. Synapses, originally known from the nervous system, can form also between immune cells and the two faces of the synapse – immune versus neural - are under intense studies. The molecular crosstalk between the two systems implies that dysfunctions in one system and efforts to treat such perturbations may also affect the other system.

This symposium high-lights modern concepts on how ion channels expressed on immune cells may be the target for toxins to serve as drugs, and how T regulatory cells can affect functions in the brain. Recent advances in the use of cytokines for treatment of nervous system diseases will be discussed and mechanisms by which cytokines can affect synaptic functions in the nervous system indicated.

Speakers and Topics

Toxins as Therapeutic Drug for Ion channels in Lymphocytes
Rym Benkhalifa, Laboratoire Venins et Toxines, Group of Cellular Electrophysiology
Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunis

T regulatory cells in the central nervous system
Roberto Furlan, Neuroimmunology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano , Italy

Cytokine therapy and the nervous system
Frank Brombacher, Division of Immunology, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town , Cape Town , South Africa

Immune regulatory molecules and synaptic function in the central nervous system
Krister Kristensson, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm , Sweden