Innate Lymphoid Cells in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, is a complex chronic inflammatory condition of the human gut of unknown causes. Traditionally, dysregulated adaptive immune responses are thought to play a major role; however, accumulating evidence suggests that innate immunity also contributes to this process. Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are recently identified important components of innate immunity. They have critical roles in immunity, tissue development and remodeling. Numerous researchers have linked ILCs to the pathogenesis of IBD. In this review, we describe recent progress in our understanding about the phenotype and function alterations of ILCs as well as its interactions with other key mucosal cells in the gut of IBD patients. A better delineation of the ILCs’ behavior in the human intestine will contribute to our understanding of ILCs biology and provide valuable insights for potential therapeutic target selection for IBD patients.