Figure 3.

The spectrum of tissue adaptation

Cells within barrier epithelial tissues experience diverse exposures to inflammatory stimuli over a lifetime. Whether memories or adaptations might accumulate is a fascinating possibility as yet unexplored. In a model where they do so, tissue adaptation would be expected to occur on a spectrum represented by the red and blue triangle. In this model, a paucity of normal developmental cues and inflammatory exposures might render tissues vulnerable to infection, resulting in poor tissue recovery following a naïve injury. By contrast, when a tissue is perpetually exposed to excessive inflammatory signals, this may drive chronic inflammation and cancer via accumulation of tissue “memories”.