Gut Immunology

Our group is focusing on several aspects of gut immunology. It is our intention to dissect in details the interactions between lymphocytes and intestinal epithelial cells and to identify cellular and molecular events, which are instrumental in the maintenance of functions of the highly specialized intestinal epithelium. <P>
Part of the project will also involve the study of interaction of food-borne pathogens (e.g. Salmonella) with the intestinal epithelium and immune system, and we are particularly interested in understanding the role of dendritic cells in directing the pathogen-specific T cell response in a relevant human model. By using cutting-edge molecular biology techniques, we plan to study the host responses at molecular level.<P>
A different line of research is devoted to the study of cellular and molecular basis of food allergy. At this time we are focusing our attention on the role of professional antigen- presenting cells in the gut and the main goal of this project is to identify early events taking place in the organized gut associated lymphoid tissue following interaction of putative allergens. We also plan to investigate the role of human antigen-presenting cells of different origin (mucosal or systemic) in regulating immune responses in physiological as well as pathological conditions.