Mucosal immune system
Citations Over Time
Abstract
The gastrointestinal mucosal immune system is one of the largest immunological compartments in the body. This chapter summarizes basic concepts and components of general and mucosal immunology and how these cooperate in maintaining homeostasis in the gastrointestinal tract. The innate and adaptive immune systems are tightly linked in mammals. Adaptive immunity conceptually can be divided into humoral and cellular immunity, although both arms of the system have close interactions with each other. T lymphocytes are a critical component of the gut mucosal immune system and make up almost a quarter of all cell types in the intestine. Immune responses in the gastrointestinal tract and systemic sites are highly regulated and tightly coordinated between different cell types. The intestinal immune system has the capacity to selectively sample antigens from the gut and subsequently induce immune responses that provide protection for the gastrointestinal tract and other mucosal surfaces of the host and the nursing offspring.