Cellular bases for interactions between immunocytes and enteroendocrine cells in the intestinal mucosal barrier of...

The roles of the interactions between nervous, endocrine, and immune systems have been well established in human health and diseases. At present, little is known about the cellular bases for neural-endocrine-immune networks in the gastrointestinal mucosa. In the current study, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum, colon, and rectum autopsies from 15 rhesus macaques and endoscopic duodenal biopsies from 12 rhesus macaques were collected, and the spatial relationships between the endocrine cells and immune cells in the intestinal mucosa were examined by transmission electron microscopy. Eight types of enteroendocrine cells similar to human enterochromaffin cells (EC), D1, G, I, K, L, N, and S cells were found to lie within a one-cell-size distance from immunocytes, in particular the eosinophils in the epithelia or lamina propria. Close apposition of large areas of plasma membranes between many types of enteroendocrine cells and immunocytes, especially between EC, K, S cells and eosinophils, were observed in the epithelia for the first time. These data indicate that complex interactions occur between diverse types of enteroendocrine cells and various immune cells through paracrine mechanisms or via mechanisms dependent on cell-to-cell contact; such interactions might play key roles in maintaining the gut mucosal barrier integrity of rhesus macaques.