title: Immunosurveillance as a regulator of tissue homeostasis.
abstract: The immune system is intimately involved in the pathophysiology of several human disorders. Thus, excessive or chronic inflammation initiated by numerous insults exacerbates tissue damage and - at least in some settings - promotes oncogenesis. Nevertheless, immunosurveillance, the process whereby the immune system eliminates damaged, senescent and (pre-)malignant cells, appears to exert major homeostatic functions. Accumulating evidence indicates that defects in the molecular and cellular circuitries that underpin immune responses accelerate the course of chronic diseases, including hepatic cirrhosis and cancer. Along similar lines, the re-establishment of tissue homeostasis upon acute pathological insults such as ischemia appears to be delayed when normal immunological functions are naturally or experimentally compromised. Here, we propose that immunosurveillance is a key regulator of tissue homeostasis.
authors.affiliation: INSERM, U848, F-94805 Villejuif, France; INSERM, U1015, F-94805 Villejuif, France; Gustave Roussy, F-94805 Villejuif, France.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Senovilla
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Galluzzi
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zitvogel
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kroemer
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007157:Immunologic Surveillance / Q000502:physiology*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology
keywords: aging; cancer; dendritic cells; immunopeptidome; natural killer cells; senescence