Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 4, 2026

Isolating Lymphocytes from the Mouse Small Intestinal Immune System
Published on: February 28, 2018
Deconstructing deployment of the innate immune lymphocyte army for barrier homeostasis and protection
Francisca F Almeida1,2, Nicolas Jacquelot1,2, Gabrielle T Belz1,2
1Division of Molecular Immunology, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Abstract:
The study of the immune system has shifted from a purely dichotomous separation between the innate and adaptive arms to one that is now highly complex and reshaping our ideas of how steady-state health is assured. It is now clear that immune cells do not neatly fit into these two streams and immune homeostasis depends on continual dialogue between multiple lineages of the innate (including dendritic cells, innate lymphoid cells, and unconventional lymphocytes) and adaptive (T and B lymphocytes) arms together with a finely tuned synergy between the host and microbes which is essential to ensure immune homeostasis. Innate lymphoid cells are critical players in this new landscape. Here, we discuss recent studies that have elucidated in detail the development of ILCs from their earliest progenitors and examine factors that influence their identification and ability to drive immune homeostasis and long-term immune protection.
Related Concept Videos
What is the Immune System?
Introduction to Innate and Adaptive Immunity
Innate immunity is the body's natural, nonspecific defense system that acts quickly to protect against pathogens. It incorporates physical barriers like skin and mucous membranes and cellular elements such as phagocytes and natural killer cells. This part of our immune system provides an immediate,...
Cells of the Innate Immune Response
Phagocytes
Phagocytes police the peripheral tissues by removing cellular debris and responding to the invasion of foreign substances or pathogens. Many phagocytes attack and remove microorganisms even before lymphocytes detect them. The human body has two general...
What is Homeostasis?
pH Homeostasis
Respiratory...
Skeleton and Calcium Homeostasis

