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Asthma was previously defined as an allergic Th2‐mediated inflammatory immune disorder. Recently, this paradigm has been challenged because not all pathological changes observed in the asthmatic airways are adequately explained simply as a result of Th2‐mediated processes. Contemporary thought holds that asthma is a complex immune disorder involving innate as well as adaptive immune responses, with the clinical heterogeneity of asthma perhaps a result of the different relative contribution of these two systems to the disease. Epidemiological studies show that exposure to certain environmental substances is strongly associated with the risk of developing asthma. The airway epithelium is first barrier to interact with, and respond to, environmental agents (pollution, viral infection, allergens), suggesting that it is a key player in the pathology of asthma. Epithelial cells play a key role in the regulation of …