About this Research Topic
The research area for this Topic will be the study of intracellular transport focused on understanding the proper function of immune cells. The main cellular components of the innate and adaptive immune defense are: professional antigen presenting cells (dendritic cells, macrophages, monocytes), CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, and neutrophils. All these cells play essential roles within the immune system that involve complex membrane trafficking and intracellular transport events leading to achieve efficient foreign antigen internalization (fluid-phase endocytosis, receptor-mediated endocytosis, phagocytosis), antigen processing and peptide loading onto Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) Class I and II molecules, T cell activation and cytokines secretion, B cell activation and antibodies secretion, pathogen recognition and destruction. Many steps of these processes are not completely understood, especially how the intracellular trafficking of the macromolecules implicated are connected with an optimal immune response.
Most of the research on the Immunology field provide conceptual advances and offer interesting descriptions of the final outcome for several important immune process. However, it is frequently observed that these studies do not include novel insights about the molecular mechanisms that govern the intracellular transport events required for the proper function of the different immune cells. The main goal of this Research Topic is to cover new high-quality studies involving intracellular trafficking in immune cells that address novel conceptual and mechanistic advances aiming to enlarge the actual knowledge of the immune system and potential therapeutic strategies for different pathologies or infection scenarios.
- Intracellular transport in immune cells
- Regulation of endocytosis and phagocytosis by professional phagocytes
- Membrane trafficking during antigen processing and presentation by antigen presenting cells
- Cytokines secretion by CD4+ T lymphocytes
- Establishment of the immunological synapse by T cells
- Antibody production and secretion by B lymphocytes
- Host-pathogen interaction, with a focus on identifying new molecular agents
- Mechanisms of drug internalization
Most of the research on the Immunology field provide conceptual advances and offer interesting descriptions of the final outcome for several important immune process. However, it is frequently observed that these studies do not include novel insights about the molecular mechanisms that govern the intracellular transport events required for the proper function of the different immune cells. The main goal of this Research Topic is to cover new high-quality studies involving intracellular trafficking in immune cells that address novel conceptual and mechanistic advances aiming to enlarge the actual knowledge of the immune system and potential therapeutic strategies for different pathologies or infection scenarios.
- Intracellular transport in immune cells
- Regulation of endocytosis and phagocytosis by professional phagocytes
- Membrane trafficking during antigen processing and presentation by antigen presenting cells
- Cytokines secretion by CD4+ T lymphocytes
- Establishment of the immunological synapse by T cells
- Antibody production and secretion by B lymphocytes
- Host-pathogen interaction, with a focus on identifying new molecular agents
- Mechanisms of drug internalization
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
