T-lymphocyte-epithelial-cell interactions: integrin alpha(E)(CD103)beta(7), LEEP-CAM and chemokines
The epithelia are the avascular layers of cells that cover the environment-exposed surfaces of the body. It appears that T cells localize to selected sites in or adjacent to epithelia via the selective expression of adhesion molecules and chemokine receptors on T cells. These bind to counter-receptors and to chemokines expressed by epithelial cells. Recently, there has been an advance in our under