| Description |
Our intestines are colonized by a vast consortium of bacteria, viruses, and fungi that we now know have essential influences on gut health. Gut microbes are also instrumental for promoting the development of a mature immune system, but in turn, host immunity influences the types and functions of these commensal organisms. Research in the Round lab has recently shown that intestinal antibody responses select for specific organisms within the gut that prevent metabolic disease by limiting fat absorption within the intestine. In the absence of appropriate immunity in the gut, these protective microbes are lost, and hosts develop obesity and insulin resistance. Thus, health depends on a delicate balance between our immune system and resident gut microbes. |
| References |
1.) MHC variation sculpts individualized microbial communities that control susceptibility to enteric infection. Kubinak JL, Stephens WZ, Soto R, Petersen C, Chiaro T, Gogokhia L, Bell R, Ajami NJ, Petrosino JF, Morrison L, Potts WK, Jensen PE, O'Connell RM, Round JL. Nat Commun. 2015 Oct;6:8642. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26494419/ 2.) Causal effects of the microbiota on immune-mediated diseases. Round JL, Palm NW. Sci Immunol. 2018 Feb;3(20). pii: eaao1603. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29440265/ 3.) Variations in diet cause alterations in microbiota and metabolites that follow changes in disease severity in a multiple sclerosis model. Libbey JE, Sanchez JM, Doty DJ, Sim JT, Cusick MF, Cox JE, Fischer KF, Round JL, Fujinami RS. Benef Microbes. 2018 Apr;9(3):495. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29380645/ 4.) T cell-mediated regulation of the microbiota protects against obesity. Petersen C, Bell R, Klag KA, Lee SH, Soto R, Ghazaryan A, Buhrke K, Ekiz HA, Ost KS, Boudina S, O'Connell RM, Cox JE, Villanueva CJ, Stephens WZ, Round JL. Science. 2019 Jul;365(6451). pii: eaat9351. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31346040/ |
