Immune homeostasis in epithelial cells: Evidence and role of inflammasome signaling reviewed

The epithelium regulates the interaction between the noxious xenogenous,as well as the microbial environment and the immune system,not only by providing a barrier but also by expressing a number of immunoregulatory membrane receptors,and intracellular danger sensors and their downstream effectors. amongst these are a number of inflammasome sensor subtypes,which have been initially characterized in myeloid cells and described to be activated upon assembly into multiprotein complexes by microbial and environmental triggers. this review compiles a vast amount of literature that supports a pivotal role for inflammasomes in the various epithelial barriers of the human body as essential factors maintaining immune signaling and homeostasis. © 2015 paul m. peeters et al.