The importance of the epithelium in initiating and controlling immune responses is becoming
more appreciated. For example, allergen contact first occurs at mucosal sites exposed to the
external environment, such as the skin, airways, and gastrointestinal tract. This exposure
leads to the production of a variety of cytokines and chemokines that are involved in driving
allergic inflammatory responses. One such product is thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP).
Recent studies in both human subjects and murine models have implicated TSLP in the …