Cross Talk of Purinergic and Immune Signaling: Implication in Inflammatory and Pathogenic Diseases

Purine derivatives like adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP) is the powerhouse of the cell and is essential to maintain the cellular homeostasis and activity. Besides this they also act as a chemical messenger when released into the extracellular milieu because of stress and cellular insult. The extracellular ATP (eATP) as well as its metabolite adenosine triggers purinergic signaling affecting various cellular processes such as cytokine and chemokine production, immune cell function, differentiation, and maturation, and mediates inflammatory activity. Aberrant purinergic signaling had been implicated in several diseased conditions. This chapter will focus on the dynamics of purinergic signaling and immune signaling in driving under various diseased conditions like autoimmunity and infectious disease.