London Research Institute, Cancer Research UK, London, UK.
Nat Immunol. 2010 Aug;11(8):656-65. doi: 10.1038/ni.1905. Epub 2010 Jul 20.
Frequent microbial and nonmicrobial challenges to epithelial cells trigger discrete pathways, promoting molecular changes such as the secretion of specific cytokines and chemokines and alterations to molecules displayed at the epithelial cell surface. In combination, these molecules impose key decisions on innate and adaptive immune cells. Depending on context, those decisions can be as diverse as those imposed by professional antigen-presenting cells, benefiting the host by balancing immune competence with the avoidance of immunopathology. Nonetheless, this potency of epithelial cells is also consistent with the causal contribution of epithelial dysregulation to myriad inflammatory diseases. This pathogenic axis provides an attractive target for tissue-specific clinical manipulation. In this context, a research goal should be to identify all molecules used by epithelial cells to instruct immune cells. We term this the 'epimmunome'.
上皮细胞经常受到微生物和非微生物的挑战，这些挑战会触发不同的途径，促进分子变化，如特定细胞因子和趋化因子的分泌，以及上皮细胞表面分子的改变。这些分子共同作用，对先天免疫和适应性免疫细胞做出关键决策。根据具体情况，这些决策可以与专业抗原呈递细胞所做出的决策一样多样化，通过平衡免疫能力和避免免疫病理来使宿主受益。尽管如此，上皮细胞的这种效力也与上皮细胞失调导致众多炎症性疾病的因果关系相一致。这个致病轴为组织特异性临床干预提供了一个有吸引力的目标。在这种情况下，一个研究目标应该是确定上皮细胞用来指示免疫细胞的所有分子。我们将其称为“epimmunome”。
