🇬🇧 Living in tissues: Innate lymphoid cells and adaptation of tissue function

Abstract

Innate lymphoid cells (ILC) are a recently discovered group of tissue-resident innate lymphocytes, that often take up residency in tissues during embryonal development. A current focus of our research is to obtain a molecular understanding of how the innate immune system and in particular ILC, by integrating environmental signals (such as those from the indigenous microbiota), contribute to tissue physiology. Recent studies have revealed ever more intriguing relationships between ILC and basic developmental and biologic processes that are likely to reveal unsuspected pathways by which the immune system might be plumbed to improve health and healthspan. These lines of research have suggested new paradigms for the immune system and for processes such as tissue homeostasis, tissue resilience, morphogenesis, metabolism, regeneration and growth.