Biological complexity: G.I. neuron network controls (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, September 04, 2020, 20:46 (1541 days ago) @ David Turell

Neuron network is difficult to study but new techniques have shown partially how it works:

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-single-cell-atlas-nerve-cells-gut.html

"Embedded throughout the gastrointestinal system is an extensive array of neurons that coordinates nearly all activities involved in digestion, gut motility, and response to noxious stimuli. These cells make up the enteric nervous system (ENS) and transmit signals from the gut to the brain, but are rare and fragile, making them difficult to isolate and study.

"A team led by researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital has now overcome these challenges with new methods that they developed to generate a single-cell map of the ENS in humans and mice.

"By analyzing gene activity in these individual neurons, the scientists infer that neurons in the gut are communicating with a variety of other cell types, including immune cells. They also found that key genes associated with disease are expressed in these cells.

"The findings suggest that the ENS is a central hub linking the intestinal, immune, and central nervous systems, and plays an important role in allergic, inflammatory, and motility disorders of the gut, as well as diseases affecting the brain.

"The team's analysis revealed dozens of distinct subsets of neurons in the enteric nervous system and showed that the composition of the cells and their gene expression varied by anatomical region of the gut, age, and even time of day when the sample was taken.

"The data also suggest multiple new circuits between different subtypes of neurons and surrounding cells. The connections found between the enteric neurons and the immune system could help guide future study of how the nervous system might be involved in gastrointestinal disease, and why certain diseases of the central nervous system, such as autism spectrum disorder and Parkinson's disease, have gut dysfunction as an early symptom.

"Xavier says studying these enteric neurons could yield new insight into irritable bowel syndrome, allergic disorders of the gut, and unexplained enteric neuropathy (impairment or degradation of the nerves in the digestive system).

"'In many ways, the enteric neurons could be compared to the conductor of an orchestra," said Xavier. "For example, patients with food allergies often develop abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, all in a very short time, suggesting that the enteric neurons have sensed something wrong and activated an early warning system. Targeting these cells could potentially be a way to lessen allergic responses to food and other allergens.'"

Comment: This system of nerves and neurons controls the propulsion of the food along the intestinal cavity by a series of coordinated muscle series of contractions, that conducts the contents at exactly the right speed to allow for complete absorption of the nutrients. This has to have been designed. Chance cannot create this complex mechanism.