The oral and nasal cavities are covered by the mucosal epithelium that starts at the beginning of the aero-digestive tract. These mucosal surfaces are continuously exposed to environmental antigens including pathogens and allergens, and are thus equipped with a mucosal immune system that mediates initial recognition of pathogenicity and initiates pathogen-specific immune responses. At the dawn of our scientific effort to explore the mucosal immune system, dental science was one of the major driving forces as it provided insights into the importance of mucosal immunity and its application for the control of oral infectious diseases. The development of mucosal vaccines for the prevention of dental caries was thus part of a novel approach that contributed to building the scientific foundations of the mucosal immune system. Since then, mucosal immunology and vaccines have gone on a scientific journey to become one of the major entities within the discipline of immunology. Here, we introduce our past and current efforts and future directions for the development of mucosal vaccines, specifically a rice-based oral vaccine (MucoRice) and a nanogel-based nasal vaccine, with the aim of preventing and controlling gastrointestinal and respiratory infectious diseases using the interdisciplinary fusion of mucosal immunology with agricultural science and biomaterial engineering, respectively.

中文翻译：

---

粘膜疫苗：从现在到那时的智慧

口腔和鼻腔被从气消化道开始处开始的黏膜上皮覆盖。这些黏膜表面不断暴露于包括病原体和过敏原在内的环境抗原，因此配备了黏膜免疫系统，可介导对致病性的初步识别并启动病原体特异性免疫反应。在我们探索粘膜免疫系统的科学努力之初，牙科科学是主要驱动力之一，因为它提供了对粘膜免疫重要性及其在控制口腔传染病中的应用的见解。因此，开发用于预防龋齿的粘膜疫苗是有助于建立粘膜免疫系统科学基础的新方法的一部分。自那以后，黏膜免疫学和疫苗已经踏上了科学之旅，成为免疫学学科的主要实体之一。在这里，我们介绍了我们过去和现在在开发粘膜疫苗方面所做的努力和未来的方向，特别是基于水稻的口服疫苗（MucoRice）和基于纳米凝胶的鼻腔疫苗，旨在预防和控制胃肠道和呼吸道传染病。粘膜免疫学分别与农业科学和生物材料工程的跨学科融合。