The epithelium takes the stage in asthma and inflammatory bowel diseases.

The epithelium is a dynamic barrier and the damage to this epithelial layer governs a variety of complex mechanisms involving not only epithelial cells but all resident tissue constituents, including immune and stroma cells. Traditionally, diseases characterized by a damaged epithelium have been considered "immunological diseases," and research efforts aimed at preventing and treating these diseases have primarily focused on immuno-centric therapeutic strategies, that often fail to halt or reverse the natural progression of the disease. In this review, we intend to focus on specific mechanisms driven by the epithelium that ensure barrier function.

ATP citrate lyase (ACLY)-dependent immunometabolism in mucosal T cells drives experimental colitis in vivo.

Objective: Mucosal T cells play a major role in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, their immunometabolism during intestinal inflammation is poorly understood. Due to its impact on cellular metabolism and proinflammatory immune cell function, we here focus on the enzyme ATP citrate lyase (ACLY) in mucosal T cell immunometabolism and its relevance for IBD.

IL-3 receptor signalling suppresses chronic intestinal inflammation by controlling mechanobiology and tissue egress of regulatory T cells.

IL-3 has been reported to be involved in various inflammatory disorders, but its role in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has not been addressed so far. Here, we determined IL-3 expression in samples from patients with IBD and studied the impact of or deficiency on T cell-dependent experimental colitis. We explored the mechanical, cytoskeletal and migratory properties of and T cells using real-time deformability cytometry, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching and and cell trafficking assays.

Rapid single-cell physical phenotyping of mechanically dissociated tissue biopsies.

During surgery, rapid and accurate histopathological diagnosis is essential for clinical decision making. Yet the prevalent method of intra-operative consultation pathology is intensive in time, labour and costs, and requires the expertise of trained pathologists. Here we show that biopsy samples can be analysed within 30 min by sequentially assessing the physical phenotypes of singularized suspended cells dissociated from the tissues.

Impact of Epithelial Cell Shedding on Intestinal Homeostasis.

The gut barrier acts as a first line of defense in the body, and plays a vital role in nutrition and immunoregulation. A layer of epithelial cells bound together via intercellular junction proteins maintains intestinal barrier integrity. Based on a tight equilibrium between cell extrusion and cell restitution, the renewal of the epithelium (epithelial turnover) permits the preservation of cell numbers.