Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 28, 2025

Co-Culture of Murine Small Intestine Epithelial Organoids with Innate Lymphoid Cells
Published on: March 23, 2022
Tissue-Dependent Adaptations and Functions of Innate Lymphoid Cells
Julia M Murphy1,2,3, Louis Ngai1, Arthur Mortha1
1Department of Immunology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Abstract:
Tissue-resident immune cells reside in distinct niches across organs, where they contribute to tissue homeostasis and rapidly respond to perturbations in the local microenvironment. Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are a family of innate immune cells that regulate immune and tissue homeostasis. Across anatomical locations throughout the body, ILCs adopt tissue-specific fates, differing from circulating ILC populations. Adaptations of ILCs to microenvironmental changes have been documented in several inflammatory contexts, including obesity, asthma, and inflammatory bowel disease. While our understanding of ILC functions within tissues have predominantly been based on mouse studies, development of advanced single cell platforms to study tissue-resident ILCs in humans and emerging patient-based data is providing new insights into this lymphocyte family. Within this review, we discuss current concepts of ILC fate and function, exploring tissue-specific functions of ILCs and their contribution to health and disease across organ systems.
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