This respected graduate-level textbook provides comprehensive and accessible coverage of the basic and clinical aspects of the mucosal immune system, addressing the major components of the mucosal barrier ̶ gastrointestinal, upper and lower respiratory, ocular, and genitourinary mucosal immune systems ̶ in a highly user-friendly style. The editors of and contributors to the book, all internationally-recognized leaders, present the current principles, concepts, and basic processes involved in mucosal immunology, mucosal diseases, and host defense at mucosal surfaces. 　Topics discussed include the development and structure of the mucosal immune system and its cellular constituents, host-microbe relationships, infection, mucosal diseases, and vaccines. The second edition has been carefully updated throughout to reflect the latest developments from clinical research and key literature has been fully updated.

DEVELOPMENT AND STRUCTURE OF MUCOSAL TISSUE
Overview of the mucosal immune system structure
Phylogeny of the mucosal immune system
Immunologic and functional differences among individual compartments of the mucosal immune system
Secreted effectors of the innate mucosal barrier

CELLULAR CONSTITUENTS OF MUCOSAL IMMUNE SYSTEMS AND THEIR FUNCTION IN MUCOSAL HOMEOSTASIS
Immune function of epithelial cells
Intraepithelial T cells: Specialized T cells at epithelial surfaces
T lymphocyte populations within the lamina propria
Innate lymphoid cells
Role of regulatory T cells in mucosal immunity
Mucosal B cells and their function
Secretory immunoglobulins and their transport
Role of dendritic cells in integrating immune responses to luminal antigens
Intestinal macrophages in defense of the mucosa
Mucosal basophils, eosinophils, and mast cells
M cells and the follicle-associated epithelium
Lymphocyte trafficking from inductive sites to effector sites
Mucosal tolerance

MICROBIAL COMMENSALISM
Recognition of microbe-associated molecular patterns by pattern recognition receptors
Commensal microbiota and its relationship to homeostasis and disease

GENITOURINARY TRACT
The immune system of the genitourinary tract
Mucosal immune responses to microbes in genital tract

NOSE, AIRWAYS, ORAL CAVITY, AND EYES
Nasopharyngeal and oral immune system
Bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue and immune-mediated respiratory diseases
Ocular surface as mucosal immune site

INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF MUCOSAL SURFACES
Mucosal interactions with enteropathogenic bacteria
Infection
Mucosal responses to helminth infections
Viral infections
Infection-driven periodontal disease
Mucosal vaccine strategies

SPECIFIC IMMUNE-MEDIATED DISEASES OF MUCOSAL SURFACES
Celiac disease
IgA nephropathy
Mucosal manifestations of immunodeficiencies
Inflammatory bowel disease
Food allergies and eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases