Immunophysics Explained

Immunophysics is a novel interdisciplinary research field using immunological, biological, physical and chemical approaches to elucidate and modify immune-mediated mechanisms and to expand our knowledge on the pathomechanisms of chronic immune-mediated diseases such as arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma and chronic infections.

Background

Immune reactions are tightly regulated and usually self-limited.^[1] ^[2] Dysregulation can result in chronic inflammatory diseases (immunochronicity). In addition to biochemical molecular mechanisms, physical factors influence the immune system. Such components include:

Microenvironmental factors like tonicity, pH, oxygen pressure and the redox status of immune cells^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8] ^[9]
Mechanical factors, such as tissue pressure, cellular stiffness and cell motility^[10] ^[11]
Cell membrane physics such as membrane composition and particles^[12]

The research field of immunophysics aims to investigate the influence of these physicochemical parameters on the function of the immune system in health and disease.

Methods

Immunophysical techniques include nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), dual-energy computed tomography,^[13] fluorescence-lifetime imaging microscopy, multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT), high-throughput microfluidic cytometry,^[14] interferometric scattering microscopy (iSCAT) and cryogenic optical localization in 3D (COLD).

Applications

Immunophysical research is considered to open new perspectives for the investigation of the pathomechanisms of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, help to develop novel detection methods and diagnostic tools in these diseases and advance the treatment possibilities of such diseases.

External links

Notes and References

Book: Murphy and Weaver, Kenneth and Casey. Janeway's Immunobiology textbook. Taylor & Francis Ltd. 2016. 978-0-8153-4551-0.
Nathan. Carl. Points of control in inflammation. Nature. 420. 6917. 846–852. 10.1038/nature01320. 12490957. 2002Natur.420..846N. 2002. 4426546.
Kellum. John A.. Song. Mingchen. Li. Jinyou. 2004-01-01. Science review: Extracellular acidosis and the immune response: clinical and physiologic implications. Critical Care. 8. 5. 331–6. 10.1186/cc2900. 1364-8535. 1065014. 15469594 . free .
Bogdan. Christian. 2015-03-01. Nitric oxide synthase in innate and adaptive immunity: an update. Trends in Immunology. en. 36. 3. 161–178. 10.1016/j.it.2015.01.003. 25687683. 1471-4906.
Nathan. Carl. Cunningham-Bussel. Amy. Beyond oxidative stress: an immunologist's guide to reactive oxygen species. Nature Reviews Immunology. 13. 5. 349–361. 10.1038/nri3423. 4250048. 23618831. 2013.
Machnik. Agnes. Neuhofer. Wolfgang. Jantsch. Jonathan. Dahlmann. Anke. Tammela. Tuomas. Machura. Katharina. Park. Joon-Keun. Beck. Franz-Xaver. Müller. Dominik N. Macrophages regulate salt-dependent volume and blood pressure by a vascular endothelial growth factor-C–dependent buffering mechanism. Nature Medicine. 15. 5. 545–552. 10.1038/nm.1960. 19412173. 2009. 10526891.
Jantsch. Jonathan. Schatz. Valentin. Friedrich. Diana. Schröder. Agnes. Kopp. Christoph. Siegert. Isabel. Maronna. Andreas. Wendelborn. David. Linz. Peter. 2015-03-03. Cutaneous Na+ Storage Strengthens the Antimicrobial Barrier Function of the Skin and Boosts Macrophage-Driven Host Defense. Cell Metabolism. en. 21. 3. 493–501. 10.1016/j.cmet.2015.02.003. 1550-4131. 4350016. 25738463.
Kleinewietfeld. Markus. Manzel. Arndt. Titze. Jens. Kvakan. Heda. Yosef. Nir. Linker. Ralf A.. Muller. Dominik N.. Hafler. David A.. Sodium chloride drives autoimmune disease by the induction of pathogenic TH17 cells. Nature. 496. 7446. 518–522. 10.1038/nature11868. 3746493. 23467095. 2013Natur.496..518K. 2013.
Shapiro L and Dinarello CA. 1995. Osmotic regulation of cytokine synthesis in vitro.. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 92 . 26. 12230–4. 1995PNAS...9212230S. 10.1073/pnas.92.26.12230. 8618875. 40330. free.
Fay. Meredith E.. Myers. David R.. Kumar. Amit. Turbyfield. Cory T.. Byler. Rebecca. Crawford. Kaci. Mannino. Robert G.. Laohapant. Alvin. Tyburski. Erika A.. 2016-02-23. Cellular softening mediates leukocyte demargination and trafficking, thereby increasing clinical blood counts. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. en. 113. 8. 1987–1992. 10.1073/pnas.1508920113. 0027-8424. 4776450. 26858400. 2016PNAS..113.1987F. free.
Riesner. Katarina. Shi. Yu. Jacobi. Angela. Kräter. Martin. Kalupa. Martina. McGearey. Aleixandria. Mertlitz. Sarah. Cordes. Steffen. Schrezenmeier. Jens-Florian. 2017-04-06. Initiation of acute graft-versus-host disease by angiogenesis. Blood. en. 129. 14. 2021–2032. 10.1182/blood-2016-08-736314. 0006-4971. 28096092. free.
Muñoz. Luis E.. Bilyy. Rostyslav. Biermann. Mona H. C.. Kienhöfer. Deborah. Maueröder. Christian. Hahn. Jonas. Brauner. Jan M.. Weidner. Daniela. Chen. Jin. 2016-10-04. Nanoparticles size-dependently initiate self-limiting NETosis-driven inflammation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. en. 113. 40. E5856–E5865. 10.1073/pnas.1602230113. 0027-8424. 5056044. 27647892. 2016PNAS..113E5856M . free.
McCollough. Cynthia H.. Leng. Shuai. Yu. Lifeng. Fletcher. Joel G.. 2015-08-24. Dual- and Multi-Energy CT: Principles, Technical Approaches, and Clinical Applications. Radiology. 276. 3. 637–653. 10.1148/radiol.2015142631. 0033-8419. 4557396. 26302388.
Book: Methods in Cell Biology. Wlodkowic. Donald. Darzynkiewicz. Zbigniew. 2011-01-01. Academic Press. Zbigniew Darzynkiewicz. Elena Holden . Alberto Orfao . William Telford . Donald Wlodkowic . 102. 105–125. 10.1016/b978-0-12-374912-3.00005-5. 21704837. 3241275. Rise of the Micromachines: Microfluidics and the Future of Cytometry. 9780123749123. Recent Advances in Cytometry, Part A - Instrumentation, Methods.