Drosophila melanogaster – a suitable model system to study epithelial immune responses in-vivo

In the westernized countries, the number of inflammatory airway diseases caused by environmental factors (allergens, cigarette smoking, and air pollution) has steadily increased over the last decades. In this context, it has become obvious that the airway epithelium is not a mere target but plays an active role in the development, progression, and chronification of airway diseases. Due to the presence and tight interaction between airway epithelial cells, interstitial and smooth muscle cells as well as innate and adaptive immune cells in the airways, studies on airway epithelial immunity are merely impossible in…