99th Dahlem Conference on Infection, Inflammation and Chronic Inflammatory Disorders: Induction and control of regulatory T cells in the gastrointestinal tract: Consequences for local and peripheral immune responses

Abstract

Regulatory T cells play a crucial role in normal gut homeostasis, as well as during infection with microbial or parasitic pathogens. Prior to infection, interactions with the commensal microflora are essential to differentiation of a healthy steady-state level of immunoregulation, mediated through both Toll-like receptor-dependent and -independent pathways. The ingress of pathogenic organisms may, according to the context, promote or reverse the regulatory environment, with onward consequences for inflammation in both the intestinal and extra-intestinal settings. Appropriate regulation of gut immunity thus depends upon a complex three-way interplay between host cells, commensals and pathogens, and can exert a major impact on systemic responses including allergy and autoimmunity. © 2010 British Society for Immunology.