哮喘联盟

   摘要
   气道上皮细胞位于粘膜免疫的前线，并为机体建立起针对外界的防线。上皮细胞顶端的连接复合体是多蛋白亚基，可促进细胞连接并保证屏障完整性。近来皮肤与胃肠道领域研究提示，启动上皮免疫应答首先需要破坏细胞连接，而这一作用在肺部粘膜免疫中仍是未知。越来越多的证据提示，上皮屏障功能缺陷是哮喘患者气道炎症的病理特点之一。在完整的肺部环境中研究屏障功能以及细胞连接完整性存在难度，这是研究该领域的一项挑战。但在不久的将来，众多新型研究方法可为这一领域带来全新的知识。本文旨在回顾上皮细胞顶端连接复合体的结构及功能，着重阐述上皮屏障调控在固有免疫及适应性免疫应答中的作用。本文还将讨论为何上皮屏障功能缺陷可能与哮喘患者Th2细胞极化有关，并提到一种屏障功能缺陷的变阻器模型，此模型提示吸入的变应原颗粒大小是影响适应性免疫应答格局的一个重要因素。
 

（苏楠 审校）
JAllergyClinImmunol.2014Jul29.pii:S0091-6749(14)00870-7.doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2014.05.049. [Epub ahead of print]
 

Epithelial barrier function: At the frontline of asthma immunology and allergic airway inflammation.
 

Georas SN1, Rezaee F2.
 

ABSTRACT
Airway epithelial cells form a barrier to the outside world and are at the frontline of mucosal immunity. Epithelial apical junctional complexes are multiprotein subunits that promote cell-cell adhesion and barrier integrity. Recent studies in the skin and gastrointestinal tract suggest that disruption of cell-cell junctions is required to initiate epithelial immune responses, but how this applies to mucosal immunity in the lung is not clear. Increasing evidence indicates that defective epithelial barrier function is a feature of airway inflammation in asthmatic patients. One challenge in this area is that barrier function and junctional integrity are difficult to study in the intact lung, but innovative approaches should provide new knowledge in this area in the near future. In this article we review the structure and function of epithelial apical junctional complexes, emphasizing how regulation of the epithelial barrier affects innate and adaptive immunity. We discuss why defective epithelial barrier function might be linked to TH2 polarization in asthmatic patients and propose a rheostat model of barrier dysfunction that implicates the size of inhaled allergen particles as an important factor influencing adaptive immunity.
 

JAllergyClinImmunol.2014Jul29.pii:S0091-6749(14)00870-7.doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2014.05.049. [Epub ahead of print]