The Immune-Mind Connection

Saiyu Hang; Jun R Huh

doi:10.1016/j.cell.2019.10.012

The Immune-Mind Connection

Cell. 2019 Oct 31;179(4):803-805. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.10.012.

Authors

Saiyu Hang¹, Jun R Huh²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Immunology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
² Department of Immunology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Evergrande Center for Immunological Diseases, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: jun_huh@hms.harvard.edu.

PMID: 31675492
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.10.012

Abstract

How does stress promote anxiety? In this issue of Cell, Fan et al. report that immune cells have a direct role in this process. They show that chronic stress promotes mitochondrial fission in CD4⁺ T cells, causing increased synthesis of xanthine, which acts on the brain and induces anxiety-like behaviors.

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MeSH terms

Anxiety
CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes*
Humans
Metabolic Diseases*
Mitochondrial Dynamics