No abstract available.
Animals ; Humans ; *Immunity, Mucosal ; Vaccines/*immunology

The mucosae represent the first line of defense against the invasion of most pathogens, and the mucosal immune system plays a crucial role in the control of infection. Mucosal vaccination can trigger both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses mucosally as well as systemically. Hence, protective immune responses can be elicited effectively by mucosal vaccination. Microfold (M) cells being unique to the mucosal immune system can take up luminal antigens and initiating antigen-specific immune responses. The number of antigen uptake by M cells is directly related to the immune efficacy of mucosal vaccines. Utilizing M cell ligands, M cells-targeting antigen delivery can achieve highly effective mucosal immune responses. The strategy of targeted delivery of antigens to M cells and its applications can be used for the improvement of mucosal immune responses and the development of mucosal vaccines. Despite these efforts, successful development of safe and effective mucosal vaccines remains a big challenge and needs a long way to go, and provably still resort to further researches on cellular properties and functions as well as mucosal immune mechanisms.
Immunity, Mucosal ; Ligands ; Mucous Membrane ; Vaccination ; Vaccines ; immunology

Vaccination is an effective strategy to prevent infectious or immune related diseases, which has made remarkable contribution in human history. Recently increasing attentions have been paid to mucosal vaccination due to its multiple advantages over conventional ways. Subunit or peptide antigens are more reasonable immunogens for mucosal vaccination than live or attenuated pathogens, however adjuvants are required to augment the immune responses. Many mucosal adjuvants have been developed to prime desirable immune responses to different etiologies. Compared with pathogen derived adjuvants, innate endogenous molecules incorporated into mucosal vaccines demonstrate prominent adjuvanticity and safety. Nowadays, cytokines are broadly used as mucosal adjuvants for participation of signal transduction of immune responses, activation of innate immunity and polarization of adaptive immunity. Desired immune responses are promptly and efficaciously primed on basis of specific interactions between cytokines and corresponding receptors. In addition, some other innate molecules are also identified as potent mucosal adjuvants. This review focuses on innate endogenous mucosal adjuvants, hoping to shed light on the development of mucosal vaccines.
Adjuvants, Immunologic ; Animals ; Humans ; Immunity, Innate ; immunology ; Immunity, Mucosal ; immunology ; Vaccines ; administration & dosage ; immunology

AIDS Vaccines ; immunology ; China ; Cross Reactions ; Genetic Vectors ; HIV-1 ; immunology ; Humans ; Immunity, Innate ; Immunity, Mucosal

Allergic response to common environmental agents has been regarded as a main pathogenetic mechanism of bronchial asthma. However, allergic sensitization (atopy) can not be detected in a siginificant number of adult asthmatic patients. The etiology of nonatopic asthma has not yet been defined. To evaluate the possible involvement of autoimmune response against bronchial mucosa in the pathogenesis of nonatopic asthma, we performed indirect immunofluorescence staining of fresh frozen human bronchial mucosa tissue using serum samples from patients with atopic and nonatopic asthma, healthy controls, and patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. On immunostaining, circulating IgG autoantibodies against bronchial mucosa were detected in 2 (9.1%) of 22 patients with nonatopic asthma and in none of 22 patients with atopic asthma and of 22 healthy controls. IgG autoantibodies from the two patients with nonatopic asthma predominantly stained the cytoplasmic membrane of basal cells in bronchial epithelium. Serum samples from 10 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus immunostained the nucleus of epithelial cells in whole layer of bronchial epithelium. This study showed the presence of circulating IgG autoantibodies against the bronchial epithelial cell in a small portion of patients with nonatopic asthma. Further studies may be necessary to evaluate the possible involvement of autoimmune mechanism in the pathogenesis of nonatopic asthma.
Asthma/immunology* ; Autoantibodies/immunology* ; Autoantibodies/blood ; Bronchi/immunology* ; Epithelial Cells/immunology ; Human ; Immunity, Mucosal/immunology ; Respiratory Mucosa/immunology*

The mucosal immune system defends against a vast array of pathogens, yet it exhibits limited responses to commensal microorganisms under healthy conditions. The oral-pharyngeal cavity, the gateway for both the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts, is composed of complex anatomical structures and is constantly challenged by antigens from air and food. The mucosal immune system of the oral-pharyngeal cavity must prevent pathogen entry while maintaining immune homeostasis, which is achieved via a range of mechanisms that are similar or different to those utilized by the gastrointestinal immune system. In this review, we summarize the features of the mucosal immune system, focusing on T cell subsets and their functions. We also discuss our current understanding of the oral-pharyngeal mucosal immune system.
Epithelium ; immunology ; Humans ; Immunity, Cellular ; Immunity, Mucosal ; immunology ; Mouth Diseases ; immunology ; Mouth Mucosa ; immunology ; Pharynx ; immunology ; T-Lymphocyte Subsets ; classification ; immunology

The patients in gastrointestinal surgery are always accompanied with malnutrition. Parenteral nutrition is the main support method for patients with intestinal dysfunction. The normal intestinal mucosal immune system can protect against bacteria in the gut. Parenteral nutrition without enteral stimulation injures of the intestinal mucosal immunity and increases the risk of infection. It is very important to protect intestinal mucosal barrier by nutrition support therapy.
Digestive System Surgical Procedures ; Humans ; Immunity, Mucosal ; Intestinal Mucosa ; immunology ; surgery ; Nutritional Support ; Wound Healing

Dendritic cells (DCs) are key modulators that shape the immune system. In mucosal tissues, DCs act as surveillance systems to sense infection and also function as professional antigen-presenting cells that stimulate the differentiation of naive T and B cells. On the basis of their molecular expression, DCs can be divided into several subsets with unique functions. In this review, we focus on intestinal DC subsets and their function in bridging the innate signaling and adaptive immune systems to maintain the homeostasis of the intestinal immune environment. We also review the current strategies for manipulating mucosal DCs for the development of efficient mucosal vaccines to protect against infectious diseases.
Animals ; Dendritic Cells/*immunology/metabolism ; Humans ; Immunity, Mucosal ; Intestinal Mucosa/cytology/*immunology ; T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer/immunology

AIDS Vaccines ; administration & dosage ; genetics ; immunology ; Animals ; HIV Infections ; immunology ; prevention & control ; virology ; HIV-1 ; genetics ; immunology ; Humans ; Immunity, Mucosal

Opportunistic bacteria in apical periodontitis (AP) may pose a risk for systemic dissemination. Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are innate-like T cells with a broad and potent antimicrobial activity important for gut mucosal integrity. It was recently shown that MAIT cells are present in the oral mucosal tissue, but the involvement of MAIT cells in AP is unknown. Here, comparison of surgically resected AP and gingival tissues demonstrated that AP tissues express significantly higher levels of Vα7.2-Jα33, Vα7.2-Jα20, Vα7.2-Jα12, Cα and tumour necrosis factor (TNF), interferon (IFN)-γ and interleukin (IL)-17A transcripts, resembling a MAIT cell signature. Moreover, in AP tissues the MR1-restricted MAIT cells positive for MR1-5-OP-RU tetramer staining appeared to be of similar levels as in peripheral blood but consisted mainly of CD4 subset. Unlike gingival tissues, the AP microbiome was quantitatively impacted by factors like fistula and high patient age and had a prominent riboflavin-expressing bacterial feature. When merged in an integrated view, the examined immune and microbiome data in the sparse partial least squares discriminant analysis could identify bacterial relative abundances that negatively correlated with Vα7.2-Jα33, Cα, and IL-17A transcript expressions in AP, implying that MAIT cells could play a role in the local defence at the oral tissue barrier. In conclusion, we describe the presence of MAIT cells at the oral site where translocation of oral microbiota could take place. These findings have implications for understanding the immune sensing of polymicrobial-related oral diseases.
Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Immunity, Mucosal ; immunology ; Male ; Microbiota ; Middle Aged ; Mucosal-Associated Invariant T Cells ; Natural Killer T-Cells ; immunology ; Periapical Periodontitis ; microbiology ; surgery