“Nerve-Driven Immunity: Neurotransmitters and Neuropeptides in the Immune System” summarizes, analyzes and sheds new light on an unrecognized, yet very important role of key neurotransmitters and neuropeptides in the immune system.
Each chapter of the book deals with a different neurotransmitter/neuropeptide from the following list: Dopamine, Adrenaline, Noradrenaline, Acetylcholine, Glutamate, GABA, Somatostatin, Neuropeptide Y (NPY), Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), Calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP), Opioids and Cannabinoids.
For each of these neurotransmitters/neuropeptides, the following four topics are discussed:
- The specific receptors for the neurotransmitter/neuropeptide expressed in various types of immune cells
- The direct effects induced by the neurotransmitter/neuropeptide in various types of immune cells (either resting or activated), and the specific immune functions and features it activates/elevates or rather inhibits in specific concentrations
- The production of the neurotransmitter/neuropeptide in, and its release by, various types of immune cells
- The involvement of the neurotransmitter/neuropeptide in various diseases of the immune system (among them autoimmune diseases, immunodeficiency diseases and hematological cancers)
The book includes many original figures, overview tables, and proposed models of events which are instrumental, enriching and stimulating for the reader.
In light of the above-mentioned aspects, “Nerve-Driven Immunity: Neurotransmitters and Neuropeptides in the Immune System” is ideally suited as a textbook for new courses in Immunology, Neurology, Neuro-immunology or Pharmacology.
The book chapters were written by highly skilled authors from 10 countries: the USA, the United Kingdom, Italy, Israel, Sweden, France, Germany, Spain, Serbia and Romania.
“Nerve-Driven Immunity” is a term first coined by Dr. Mia Levite (the editor of thebook).
Dr. Mia Levite is a scientist specializing in Neuroimmunology: the communication between the brain and the immune system. Her research focuses on three original neuroimmune topics: (a) ‘Nerve-Driven Immunity’ (a term coined by Dr Levite): The direct effects of neurotransmitters on T cell function; (b) ‘Autoimmune Epilepsy’ (also a term coined by her): Epileptic seizures and neuropsychiatries impairments caused by glutamate-receptor autoantibodies; (c) Ion channels in T cells and their direct linkage to selective T cell functions. She published many pioneering papers on her original findings and has been invited to present her discoveries in numerous international meetings. She did her research at the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS), Israel, and recently became a Senior Scientist Faculty Member at the School of Behavioral Sciences, within the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, Israel.
Dr. Levite's discoveries led to 7 patent applications thus far, providing novel platform technology for therapy of several human diseases. Some of this technology was already licensed to a drug developing company, which develops it now towards novel therapy of cancer and autoimmune diseases.
