title: Integrating Lung Physiology, Immunology, and Tuberculosis.
abstract: Lungs are directly exposed to the air, have enormous surface area, and enable gas exchange in air-breathing animals. They are constantly 'attacked' by microbes from both outside and inside and thus possess a unique, highly regulated local immune defense system which efficiently allows for microbial clearance while minimizing damaging inflammatory responses. As a prototypic host-adapted airborne pathogen, Mycobacterium tuberculosis traverses the lung and has several 'interaction points' (IPs) which it must overcome to cause infection. These interactions are critical, not only from a pathogenesis perspective but also in considering the effectiveness of therapies and vaccines in the lungs. Here we discuss emerging views on immunologic interactions occurring in the lungs for M. tuberculosis and their impact on infection and persistence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity, College of Medicine, and the Center for Microbial Interface Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. Electronic address: jordi.torrelles@osumc.edu.
authors.forename: Jordi B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Torrelles
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity, College of Medicine, and the Center for Microbial Interface Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. Electronic address: lschlesinger@txbiomed.org.
authors.forename: Larry S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Schlesinger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D018928:Immunity, Mucosal; D008168:Lung / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D012137:Respiratory System / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000635:transmission
keywords: Mycobacterium tuberculosis; airborne infection; mucosal immunity; respiratory track; tuberculosis