CFTR and cystic fibrosis: Although the responses measured in peripheral blood cells may not completely reflect the responses occurring in the CF lung, PBMCs have a number of useful advantages: (i) PBMCs are not subject to alterations that may emerge from long-term cell culture, cloning and immortalization, and (ii) PBMCs express a large repertoire of innate immune receptors and secrete a broad array of cytokines and chemokines allowing comprehensive analysis of the modulation of inflammatory responses by CFTR.