Mucosal Immunology and Allergy

The mucosal immune system represents the first line of defense against the external microenvironment to the body, acting as a filter, to discern between potentially damaging microorganisms and innocuous dietary proteins, while maintaining the absorption of nutrients. All the components are involved in the maintenance of the equilibrium active immunity/oral tolerance: genetic factors, efferent mechanisms, receptors and innate cells, antigen presentation, cytokines and growth factors, and regulatory cells. Alterations of these elements, either for excess or for defect, may have a harmful effect on the mucosal immune function, manifested as infectious and auto-immune diseases, intolerance and food allergy. Several approaches can be used to study mucosal immunity, and the coordinate use of different platforms: Genetics; Genomics, Proteomics; Cellular function studies; and Animal models.