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Generation of gut‐homing T cells and their localization to the small intestinal mucosa
Author(s) -
JohanssonLindbom Bengt,
Agace William W.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
immunological reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.839
H-Index - 223
eISSN - 1600-065X
pISSN - 0105-2896
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-065x.2006.00482.x
Subject(s) - homing (biology) , lamina propria , biology , intraepithelial lymphocyte , intestinal mucosa , lymphatic system , microbiology and biotechnology , immunology , lymphocyte homing receptor , high endothelial venules , t cell , intestinal epithelium , dendritic cell , mesenteric lymph nodes , small intestine , antigen , cytotoxic t cell , immune system , epithelium , cell , medicine , in vitro , cell adhesion , endocrinology , ecology , biochemistry , genetics
Summary: The intestinal mucosa represents the largest body surface toward the external environment and harbors numerous T lymphocytes that take up resident within the intestinal epithelium or in the underlying lamina propria (LP). The intraepithelial lymphocytes include subsets of ‘unconventional’ T cells with unclear ontogeny and reactivity that localize to this site independently of antigen‐specific activation in secondary lymphoid organs. In contrast, the majority of the ‘conventional’ gut T cells are recruited into the intestinal mucosa subsequent to their activation in intestinal inductive sites, including Peyer’s patches (PPs) and mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs). T cells homing to the small intestine express a distinct pattern of homing molecules, allowing them to interact with and transmigrate across intestinal postcapillary endothelium. At least some of these homing molecules, including the integrin α 4 β 7 and the chemokine receptor CCR9, are induced on T cells during their activation in PPs or MLNs. Mucosal dendritic cells (DCs) play a key role in this process, but not all intestinal DCs possess the ability to confer a gut‐homing capacity to T cells. Instead, functionally specialized CD103 + DCs derived from the small intestinal LP appear to selectively regulate T‐cell homing to the small intestine.