Institute for Immunodeficiency, Center for Chronic Immunodeficiency (CCI), University Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; Center for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
Institute of Neuropathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; Center for Basics in NeuroModulation (NeuroModulBasics), Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; CIBSS-Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
Lindsay J Hall
Gut Microbes & Health, Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, United Kingdom; Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom; Intestinal Microbiome, School of Life Sciences, and ZIEL - Institute for Food & Health, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
Institute of Cardiovascular Physiology and Pathophysiology, Walter Brendel Center of Experimental Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany
At the transition from intrauterine to postnatal life, drastic alterations are mirrored by changes in cellular immunity. These changes are in part immune cell intrinsic, originate in the replacement of fetal cells, or result from global regulatory mechanisms and adaptation to changes in the tissue microenvironment. Overall, longer developmental trajectories are intersected by events related to mother-infant separation, birth cues, acquisition of microbiota and metabolic factors. Perinatal alterations particularly affect immune niches, where structures with discrete functions meet, the intestinal mucosa, epidermis and lung. Accordingly, the following questions will be addressed in this review: How does the preprogrammed development supported by endogenous cues, steer innate immune cell differentiation, adaptation to tissue structures, and immunity to infection? How does the transition at birth impact on tissue immune make-up including its topology? How do postnatal cues guide innate immune cell differentiation and function at immunological niches?
