[PDF][PDF] The immune system as a sensor of the metabolic state

JI Odegaard, A Chawla - Immunity, 2013 - cell.com
JI Odegaard, A Chawla
Immunity, 2013cell.com
Mammals possess a remarkable ability to maintain and defend a constant internal milieu
against diverse environmental threats. Unsurprisingly, the two systems tasked with these
duties, metabolism and immunity, have evolved to share a common modular architecture
that allows extensive bidirectional communication and coordination. Indeed, recent
observations have highlighted numerous functionally critical immune regulatory modules
located within diverse metabolic circuits. In this review, we discuss the architectural …
Mammals possess a remarkable ability to maintain and defend a constant internal milieu against diverse environmental threats. Unsurprisingly, the two systems tasked with these duties, metabolism and immunity, have evolved to share a common modular architecture that allows extensive bidirectional communication and coordination. Indeed, recent observations have highlighted numerous functionally critical immune regulatory modules located within diverse metabolic circuits. In this review, we discuss the architectural commonality between immunity and metabolism and highlight how these two primordially disparate systems leverage shared regulatory axes to coordinate metabolic physiology under conditions of normality and chronic overnutrition. Such an integrated perspective both advances our understanding of basic physiology and highlights potential opportunities for therapeutic intervention in metabolic dysfunction.
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