Respiratory Epithelial Cells in Innate Immunity against Respiratory Viruses

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Epithelium is considered the first barrier defense of the organism due to its contact with the environment. The respiratory epithelium is important in the innate immune response. Respiratory viruses are the leading cause of acute respiratory infections being the respiratory epithelia (RE) their primary target. These epithelial cells have the capacity to limit viral replication and to activate the immune response. RE recognize viruses through pattern recognition receptors expressed in the cell membrane or in the cytoplasm. After recognition, RE produces a variety of molecules such as defensins, nitric oxide, cytokines, chemokines, and interferons in response to viral infection. The early antiviral state by RE is crucial to control viral replication. This review analyzes the role of the RE cells as innate immunity mediator and discusses the potential use of this knowledge in the development of future mucosal therapies and vaccination.