Regulatory mechanisms of mucosal immunity by the ASK family signals

口腔是抵御细菌和病毒等病原体的前线。口腔粘膜功能减退不仅直接导致口腔疾病的发生，还会导致包括感染在内的各种全身性疾病的发生。我们最近发现，ASK1是应激信号的重要组成部分，在先天免疫中起着关键作用。因此，我们将研究扩展到ASK家族信号分子在黏膜免疫调节中的潜在作用。在本研究中，我们通过使用新产生的内部单抗询问家族成员发现，ASK1的表达是由口腔腭部损伤诱导的。我们还发现，与其他组织相比，ASK1在肠上皮组织来源的细胞系中的表达相对较高。提示ASK家族成员在口腔黏膜免疫中可能起重要作用。此外，通过使用ASK家族基因敲除小鼠，我们发现ASK家族信号在DSS诱导的结肠炎中起着重要作用。

Oral cavity functions as the front defense line against pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. Reduced functions of oral mucosa directly leads to the pathogenesis of not only oral diseases but also various systemic diseases including infection. We have recently identified that ASK1, an important component of stress signaling, plays critical roles in innate immunity. We therefore extended our study to explore the potential roles of ASK family signaling molecules in the regulation of mucosal immunity in the present study In this year, we found by using the newly generated in-house monoclonal antibodies to ASK family members that expression of ASK1 was induced by the injury of oral palate. We also found that ASK1 was relatively highly expressed in the cell lines derived from intestinal epidermal tissues compared with other tissues. These results suggested that ASK family members may play important roles in oral mucosal immunity. Moreover, by using the ASK family knock-out mice, we found that ASK family signals play important roles in DSS-induced colitis.