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Early Life Inflammation and the Developing Hematopoietic and Immune Systems: The Cochlea as a Sensitive Indicator of
Kelly S Otsuka1, Christopher Nielson2, Matthew A Firpo3
1Department of Pathology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
Insights
Perinatal inflammation impacts offspring immunity by disrupting immune cell development and hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). The cochlea serves as a model to study how infections during pregnancy affect long-term health and hearing.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Developmental Biology
- Otolaryngology
Background:
- Perinatal infection and inflammation can disrupt immune homeostasis in offspring, potentially leading to long-term health issues.
- The developing immune system is particularly vulnerable to environmental insults during the perinatal period.
- Congenital infections are known to cause cochlear dysfunction and sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how perinatal inflammation affects immune cell development, tissue homeostasis, and hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in offspring.
- To propose the cochlea as a model system for studying the impact of perinatal infection on immune and stem cell development.
- To understand the mechanisms by which perinatal inflammation contributes to SNHL and other diseases.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing the cochlea as a model tissue to analyze immune cell populations and hematopoietic progenitors.
- Simultaneous analysis of immune cells and bone marrow hematopoietic progenitors within neonatal cochlear samples.
- Investigating the role of inflammation in perturbing fetal-derived immune cell function and HSC establishment.
Main Results:
- Perinatal inflammation influences the development and function of fetal-derived immune cells crucial for tissue homeostasis.
- The establishment and function of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are affected by perinatal inflammation, impacting lifelong immune cell generation.
- Neonatal cochlear samples allow for the simultaneous analysis of both immune cells and hematopoietic progenitors.
Conclusions:
- The cochlea is a suitable model for studying the effects of perinatal infection on immune, tissue, and stem cell development.
- Perinatal inflammation plays a critical role in immune dysregulation and disease susceptibility in offspring.
- Understanding the pathogenesis of SNHL in congenital infections can provide insights into broader mechanisms of perinatal inflammation-induced disease.
Abstract:
Emerging evidence indicates that perinatal infection and inflammation can influence the developing immune system and may ultimately affect long-term health and disease outcomes in offspring by perturbing tissue and immune homeostasis. We posit that perinatal inflammation influences immune outcomes in offspring by perturbing (1) the development and function of fetal-derived immune cells that regulate tissue development and homeostasis, and (2) the establishment and function of developing hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) that continually generate immune cells across the lifespan. To disentangle the complexities of these interlinked systems, we propose the cochlea as an ideal model tissue to investigate how perinatal infection affects immune, tissue, and stem cell development. The cochlea contains complex tissue architecture and a rich immune milieu that is established during early life. A wide range of congenital infections cause cochlea dysfunction and sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), likely attributable to early life inflammation. Furthermore, we show that both immune cells and bone marrow hematopoietic progenitors can be simultaneously analyzed within neonatal cochlear samples. Future work investigating the pathogenesis of SNHL in the context of congenital infection will therefore provide critical information on how perinatal inflammation drives disease susceptibility in offspring.
