Analysis of antigen-uptake network at mucosal epithelial layer

M（微折叠）细胞和相关亚群细胞被称为用于抗原摄取的特化细胞。为了揭示M细胞摄取抗原及其分化的细胞外调节因子和机制，我们鉴定了几个M细胞特异性基因，并研究了它们在M细胞上的功能。结果表明，本课题组发现的诱导型M样细胞是介于派伊尔结M细胞和肠上皮细胞之间的中间细胞。我们成功地鉴定了GP 2和MLP作为新的M细胞特异性分子。在GP2的情况下，我们的合作工作表明，GP2可以通过FimH蛋白捕获一些细菌群体，并作为支架有效地摄取它们。此外，我们还建立了抗GP 2单克隆抗体，并验证了该抗体适用于将疫苗抗原有效递送至M细胞。

M (Microfold) cells and related subpopulation cells are known as specialized cells for antigen uptake. To reveal the extracellular regulating factors and the mechanisms for antigen uptake and their differentiation of M cells, we identified several M cell-specific genes, and investigated there functions on M cells. As a result, it was suggested that inducible M-like cells, which have been discovered by our group, were an intermediate cells between Peyer's patch M cells and intestinal epithelial cells. We succeeded in identifying GP2 and MLP as novel M cell-specific molecule. In the case of GP2, our collaborative efforts revealed that GP2 could capture some bacterial groups via FimH protein, and acted as a scaffold to uptake them efficiently. In addition, we established monoclonal anti-GP2 antibody, and verified that this antibody was applicable for effective vaccine antigen delivering to M cells.