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My husband tripped across this and sent it to me. It's about a recent, yet accidental discovery, in the role of goblet cells as mediators or "escorts" for the immune system, from Washington Univ at St. Louis. There is a question as to whether the escorts get the immune system cells delivered to the right place or in the case of celiac and other IBDs do they get re-routed?
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/03/2 ... allergies/
Carol
New research on immune system cell roles in IBD/celiac.
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
New research on immune system cell roles in IBD/celiac.
“.... people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou
I may be all wet, but I have a hunch that this will prove to be a dead end project. IMO, sure, goblet cells are going to sample antigens in the lumen - otherwise, how would they know how to regulate the volume, (and probably additives), of the mucus that they produce? I seriously doubt that this action has any implications for additional immune system action, however. Even if it were to turn out that the goblet cells do relay this information on to other components of the immune system, that doesn't imply that we would be able to safely short-circuit, (or modify), that signal, without adversely affecting mucus production, or some other essential part of immune system function.
IOW, my feeling is that this discovery is of academic interest, only. It simply illuminates a function that clearly had to exist, in order for goblet cells to do their job, in the first place.
Tex
IOW, my feeling is that this discovery is of academic interest, only. It simply illuminates a function that clearly had to exist, in order for goblet cells to do their job, in the first place.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.