Asit Panja

TL;DR: Since the cytokines expressed in response to bacterial invasion or other proinflammatory agonists have a well documented role in chemotaxis and activation of inflammatory cells, colon epithelial cells appear to be programmed to provide a set of signals for the activation of the mucosal inflammatory response in the earliest phases after microbial invasion.

TL;DR: The notion of bidirectional communication between intestinal epithelial cells and mucosal immune and inflammatory cells is supported by the notion of constitutive cytokine expression and regulated expression of interleukin (IL)-8 by human colonic epithelial cell lines.

TL;DR: The differential binding and function of proinflammatory cytokines on IEC support the hypothesis that these cytokines may be involved in normal physiological processes as well as in regulating mucosal immune responses.

TL;DR: CD1d expressed on intestinal epithelial cells may be an important ligand in CD8+ T cell-epithelial cell interactions, and it is shown that normal intestinal epithelium cells stimulate CD8- T cells under similar culture conditions.

TL;DR: Treatment of epithelial cells with interferon gamma fails to augment the cells' ability to induce proliferation of LPL while successfully enhancing proliferation of peripheral blood T cells in parallel cultures, suggesting that alternate restriction elements or mucosa-specific accessory molecules may exist on intestinal epithelial Cells that are preferentially recognized by LPLs.