The steady-state respiratory tract facilitates the gas exchange of thousands of liters of air each day through the epithelial lung mucosa with a surface area of a tennis court. This means in turn that an enormous part of the human body is exposed to a plethora of airborne particles, both benign and pathogenic. A complex network of lung-resident stromal and immune cells cooperates in a tightly controlled equilibrium to ensure fast and effective immunity to possibly damaging particles. The innate immune response is to a large extent shaped by a variety of myeloid cells that can be resident or quickly recruited whenever pathogens or foreign particles are detected. However, while myeloid cells often act to resolve inflammation, they can also promote the malignant transformation and propagation of primary and metastatic lung tumors or sustain inflammation and hamper resolution.
In the last years, the COVID pandemic put a magnifying glass on the coordination of airway immunity, increasing our understanding of both innate and adaptive immune responses to respiratory viruses. In addition, the pandemic caused renewed interest in the biology of myeloid cells of the respiratory tract and in their interplay with other cell types to prevent, restrain or sometimes worsen respiratory disease. Investigating myeloid cells through space and time, along with their cellular heterogeneity will strengthen our understanding of their respective contribution to respiratory health and immunity.
In this Research Topic, we will explore the developmental and plastic processes occurring in myeloid cells that help combat or participate in the plethora of pathologies impacting the airways, be it malignancies, allergies or infection. We welcome the submission of Review and Original Research articles broadly pertaining to the following topics:
• Recruitment and differentiation of lung myeloid cells in respiratory health and disease
• Plasticity and heterogeneity of airway-resident lung myeloid cells in health and disease
• Metabolic adaptation of lung myeloid cells in steady-state and during inflammation
• Novel therapeutic strategies aimed at myeloid cell differentiation or lung myeloid cell plasticity
Topic Editor Dr. CJ Desmet reports salary from Fonds de la Reherche Scientifique – FNRS (Belgium), consulting fees in Advisory Board on eosinophil research from AstraZeneca and lecture fees from GSK for presentation at several scientific symposia. The other Topic Editors declare no Conflicts of Interest in relation to the Research Topic focus.
The steady-state respiratory tract facilitates the gas exchange of thousands of liters of air each day through the epithelial lung mucosa with a surface area of a tennis court. This means in turn that an enormous part of the human body is exposed to a plethora of airborne particles, both benign and pathogenic. A complex network of lung-resident stromal and immune cells cooperates in a tightly controlled equilibrium to ensure fast and effective immunity to possibly damaging particles. The innate immune response is to a large extent shaped by a variety of myeloid cells that can be resident or quickly recruited whenever pathogens or foreign particles are detected. However, while myeloid cells often act to resolve inflammation, they can also promote the malignant transformation and propagation of primary and metastatic lung tumors or sustain inflammation and hamper resolution.
In the last years, the COVID pandemic put a magnifying glass on the coordination of airway immunity, increasing our understanding of both innate and adaptive immune responses to respiratory viruses. In addition, the pandemic caused renewed interest in the biology of myeloid cells of the respiratory tract and in their interplay with other cell types to prevent, restrain or sometimes worsen respiratory disease. Investigating myeloid cells through space and time, along with their cellular heterogeneity will strengthen our understanding of their respective contribution to respiratory health and immunity.
In this Research Topic, we will explore the developmental and plastic processes occurring in myeloid cells that help combat or participate in the plethora of pathologies impacting the airways, be it malignancies, allergies or infection. We welcome the submission of Review and Original Research articles broadly pertaining to the following topics:
• Recruitment and differentiation of lung myeloid cells in respiratory health and disease
• Plasticity and heterogeneity of airway-resident lung myeloid cells in health and disease
• Metabolic adaptation of lung myeloid cells in steady-state and during inflammation
• Novel therapeutic strategies aimed at myeloid cell differentiation or lung myeloid cell plasticity
Topic Editor Dr. CJ Desmet reports salary from Fonds de la Reherche Scientifique – FNRS (Belgium), consulting fees in Advisory Board on eosinophil research from AstraZeneca and lecture fees from GSK for presentation at several scientific symposia. The other Topic Editors declare no Conflicts of Interest in relation to the Research Topic focus.
