The respiratory tract is an intricate and complex system that facilitates both gas exchange and blood oxygenation, while forming a physical and immunologic barrier between the external environment, blood, and tissue sites. The ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has put pulmonary research firmly into the global spotlight, challenging previously held notions of respiratory immunity and helping identify new populations at high risk for respiratory distress. Here, we review the innate and adaptive immune responses in the lung and airways following infection and vaccination, with particular focus on influenza virus and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Understanding these varied interactions is critical in treatment of human pulmonary disease and infections and in next-generation vaccine design.
New single-cell-sequencing techniques are expanding our knowledge of airway cellular complexity and the nuanced connections between structural and immune cell compartments. As a result, innate and adaptive immune responses in the respiratory tract are tightly regulated and are in continual flux between states of enhanced pathogen clearance, immune-modulation, and tissue repair. The lungs are constantly exposed to inhaled debris, allergens, pollutants, commensal or pathogenic microorganisms, and respiratory viruses.
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