title: A gas governing mucosal immunity.
abstract: Immunoglobulin A (IgA), the most abundant Ig isotype in the body under steady-state conditions, helps to protect the body from mucosally transmitted pathogens and to maintain the homeostasis of commensal bacteria at the mucosal surface. Although it is well known that IgA is predominantly produced in mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues (MALT), little is known about why IgA class switch recombination (CSR) occurs in these tissues. We recently showed that nitric oxide (NO) released by specialized dendritic cells (DCs) is essential for IgA CSR in the MALT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biodefense Research, Medical Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 101-0062, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tezuka
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohteki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D018928:Immunity, Mucosal / Q000276:immunology*; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000276:immunology*; D017578:Immunoglobulin Class Switching; D051379:Mice; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000276:immunology; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D009569:Nitric Oxide