This respected graduate-level textbook provides comprehensive and accessible coverage of the basic and clinical aspects of the mucosal immune system, addressing the major components of the mucosal barrier ¿ gastrointestinal, upper and lower respiratory, ocular, and genitourinary mucosal immune systems ¿ in a highly user-friendly style.

DEVELOPMENT AND STRUCTURE OF MUCOSAL TISSUE. Overview of the mucosal immune system structure. Phylogeny of the mucosal immune system. Immunologic and functional differences among individual compartments of the mucosal immune system. Secreted effectors of the innate mucosal barrier. CELLULAR CONSTITUENTS OF MUCOSAL IMMUNE SYSTEMS AND THEIR FUNCTION IN MUCOSAL HOMEOSTASIS. Immune function of epithelial cells. Intraepithelial T cells: Specialized T cells at epithelial surfaces. T lymphocyte populations within the lamina propria. Innate lymphoid cells. Role of regulatory T cells in mucosal immunity. Mucosal B cells and their function. Secretory immunoglobulins and their transport. Role of dendritic cells in integrating immune responses to luminal antigens. Intestinal macrophages in defense of the mucosa. Mucosal basophils, eosinophils, and mast cells. M cells and the follicle-associated epithelium. Lymphocyte trafficking from inductive sites to effector sites. Mucosal tolerance. MICROBIAL COMMENSALISM. Recognition of microbe-associated molecular patterns by pattern recognition receptors. Commensal microbiota and its relationship to homeostasis and disease. GENITOURINARY TRACT. The immune system of the genitourinary tract. Mucosal immune responses to microbes in genital tract. NOSE, AIRWAYS, ORAL CAVITY, AND EYES. Nasopharyngeal and oral immune system. Bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue and immune-mediated respiratory diseases. Ocular surface as mucosal immune site. INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF MUCOSAL SURFACES. Mucosal interactions with enteropathogenic bacteria. infection. Mucosal responses to helminth infections. Viral infections. Infection-driven periodontal disease. Mucosal vaccine strategies. SPECIFIC IMMUNE-MEDIATED DISEASES OF MUCOSAL SURFACES. Celiac disease. IgA nephropathy. Mucosal manifestations of immunodeficiencies. Inflammatory bowel disease. Food allergies and eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases.