Exogenous Stimuli Maintain Intraepithelial Lymphocytes Via Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Activation

Abstract

Y Li, S Innocentin, DR Withers. Cell. 2011;147(3):629–640 Intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) are immune cells with unique but incompletely understood properties related to epithelial barrier defense. This study builds off the authors’ previous work with specialized T-cell populations and investigates how these interesting cells develop and function. Studies were performed in mice. The authors used gene expression studies and transgenic mouse models to characterize factors involved with IEL development, survival, and function in the gastrointestinal …