Principles of Mucosal Immunology

The Society for Mucosal Immunology advances research and education related to the field of mucosal immunology. Phillip D. Smith, MD, is Professor of Medicine and Microbiology and The Mary J Bradford Professor of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama. Thomas T. MacDonald, PhD, FRCPath, FMedSci, is Dean for Research and Professor of Immunology, Centre for Immunology and Infectious Disease, at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London. Richard S. Blumberg, MD, is Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Chief, Gastroenterology and Hepatology Division, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.

DEVELOPMENT AND STRUCTURE OF MUCOSAL TISSUE. Overview of the mucosal immune system structure. Phylogeny of the mucosal immune system. Immunologic and functional differences among individual compartments of the mucosal immune system. Secreted effectors of the innate mucosal barrier. CELLULAR CONSTITUENTS OF MUCOSAL IMMUNE SYSTEMS AND THEIR FUNCTION IN MUCOSAL HOMEOSTASIS. Immune function of epithelial cells. Intraepithelial T cells: Specialized T cells at epithelial surfaces. T lymphocyte populations within the lamina propria. Innate lymphoid cells. Role of regulatory T cells in mucosal immunity. Mucosal B cells and their function. Secretory immunoglobulins and their transport. Role of dendritic cells in integrating immune responses to luminal antigens. Intestinal macrophages in defense of the mucosa. Mucosal basophils, eosinophils, and mast cells. M cells and the follicle-associated epithelium. Lymphocyte trafficking from inductive sites to effector sites. Mucosal tolerance. MICROBIAL COMMENSALISM. Recognition of microbe-associated molecular patterns by pattern recognition receptors. Commensal microbiota and its relationship to homeostasis and disease. GENITOURINARY TRACT. The immune system of the genitourinary tract. Mucosal immune responses to microbes in genital tract. NOSE, AIRWAYS, ORAL CAVITY, AND EYES. Nasopharyngeal and oral immune system. Bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue and immune-mediated respiratory diseases. Ocular surface as mucosal immune site. INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF MUCOSAL SURFACES. Mucosal interactions with enteropathogenic bacteria. infection. Mucosal responses to helminth infections. Viral infections. Infection-driven periodontal disease. Mucosal vaccine strategies. SPECIFIC IMMUNE-MEDIATED DISEASES OF MUCOSAL SURFACES. Celiac disease. IgA nephropathy. Mucosal manifestations of immunodeficiencies. Inflammatory bowel disease. Food allergies and eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases.