Elsevier

Mucosal Immunology

Volume 10, Issue 4, July 2017, Pages 845-864
Mucosal Immunology

Article
Diversity and functions of intestinal mononuclear phagocytes

https://doi.org/10.1038/mi.2017.22Get rights and content
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Abstract

The intestinal lamina propria (LP) contains a diverse array of mononuclear phagocyte (MNP) subsets, including conventional dendritic cells (cDC), monocytes and tissue-resident macrophages (mφ) that collectively play an essential role in mucosal homeostasis, infection and inflammation. In the current review we discuss the function of intestinal cDC and monocyte-derived MNP, highlighting how these subsets play several non-redundant roles in the regulation of intestinal immune responses. While much remains to be learnt, recent findings also underline how the various populations of MNP adapt to deal with the challenges specific to their environment. Understanding these processes should help target individual subsets for ‘fine tuning’ immunological responses within the intestine, a process that may be of relevance both for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and for optimized vaccine design.

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Published online: 5 April 2017

Authors contributions All authors have contributed equally to the writing and editing of this review.

T Joeris and K Müller-Luda: These authors share first authorship of this manuscript.

W W Agace and A McI Mowat: These authors contributed equally to this work.