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FOCUS on epithelial leukotriene production published in Science Immunology

graphic by Ashley Mastin/Science Immunology

In this FOCUS article in Science Immunology, Fiona Henkel and Julia Esser-von Bieren highlight recent work showing that leukocytes are not the only cells that produce significant amounts of pro-inflammatory leukotrienes in asthma or during helminth infection. Indeed, specialized epithelial cells (called tuft cells) synthesize large amounts of cysteinyl leukotrienes (cysLTs) that drive type 2 airway inflammation (e.g. in allergic asthma) or expulsion of worm (helminth) parasites: https://www.science.org/stoken/author-tokens/ST-254/full