IL-18 cytokine derived from the enteric nervous system is important for intestinal immunity

Interleukin 18 (IL-18) is a proinflammatory cytokine, which induces cell-mediated immune reaction upon bacterial infection. In the intestine, it is known that IL-18 is produced in immune and epithelial cells. The researchers, Jarrett et al., discovered that there is also IL-18 derived from the enteric nervous system. Moreover, it turns out that this enteric-nervous-system-derived IL-18 is required for intestinal immunity. First, the researchers could localize IL-18 in the enteric neurons, using immunofluorescence microscopy. Second, they showed that IL-18 is produced in enteric neurons, using single molecule fluorescence in situ RNA hybridization (smFISH). For this, they used the THUNDER Imager 3D Live Cell with Computational Clearing.