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Science 14 January 2005:
Vol. 307. no. 5707, p. 177
DOI: 10.1126/science.307.5707.177j
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This Week in Science

Figure 2 A complex interplay has evolved between the cells of the immune system and the mucosal barrier that interfaces with the intestinal lumen and its contents. A good example of this are the specialised antigen-presenting dendritic cells (DC) that reside below the intestinal epithelium "sampling" luminal contents via dendritic extrusions as they extend through the epithelial barrier. Niess et al. (p. 254) examined the behavior and activity of these myeloid-derived DC. The DC were regulated in the extrusion of trans-epithelial dendrites and in their phagocytic activity by the chemokine receptor CX3CR1. Loss of these activities in the absence of CX3CR1 correlated with an increase in susceptibility to Salmonella typhimurium, suggesting a direct link between trans-epithelial sampling of antigen by DC and immune-mediated protection of the intestinal mucosa.

CREDIT: NIESS ET AL.




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