title: Interleukin-22, the guardian of the intestinal stem cell niche?
abstract: Our molecular understanding of how immune cells protect epithelial cells against damage is limited. In this issue of Immunity, Hanash et al. (2012) report that interleukin-22 produced by innate lymphoid cells provides protection to the stem cell niche of the intestinal epithelium.
authors.affiliation: IMMH, Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University of Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Strasse 11, 79104 Freiburg, Germany. andreas.diefenbach@uniklinik-freiburg.de
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Diefenbach