We have previously shown that CECs in neonatal mice exhibit immunosuppressive properties in vitro, and their depletion in vivo was associated with an early increased in the recruitment and influx of protective immune cells (e.g. Ly6G neutrophils, CD11b+, CD11c+, and NK cells) into the lungs in a model of pertussis (14). This evidence concerns the gene ITGAM and pertussis.