Epithelial Innate Immunity

Human Intestinal Epithelial Cells in Innate Immunity

Probiotics promote gut health through stimulation of epithelial innate immunity.

Probiotic formulations are widely available and have a variety of proposed beneficial effects, including promotion of gut health. The mechanisms of action of probiotic bacteria in the intestine are still unclear but are generally attributed to an antiinflammatory effect. Here, we demonstrate that the multiple probiotic formulation VSL#3 prevents the onset of intestinal inflammation by local sti...

Epithelial regulation of innate immunity to respiratory syncytial virus.

In the year 2001, we will mark the 45th anniversary of research on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the agent that was discovered as the cause of a “nosocomial outbreak” of colds in chimpanzees (1). Despite almost a half century of active clinical and basic investigations, an effective vaccine is still not available, and each year approximately 100,000 infants are hospitalized with RSV diseas...

Tuft Cells: A New Flavor in Innate Epithelial Immunity.

How host cells sense intestinal parasitic infection and initiate the appropriate immune response has long been a focus of many immunologists. Three new papers now identify a critical role for tuft cells, an epithelial cell type involved in perception of taste, as key players that kick-start type 2 immunity.

Innate immunity

From the discovery of antibodies in the late nineteenth century until very recently, the focus of most research in immunology has been the so-called adaptive immune response. Adaptive immune responses are highly specific for a given microorganism and it is the T and B lymphocytes of the adaptive immune response, and the antibodies produced by the B lymphocytes, that are responsible for lasting ...