The microbiota as instructor and arbiter of immune responses in health and disease

The microbiota as instructor and arbiter of immune responses in health and disease
Air date: Wednesday, February 22, 2017, 3:00:00 PM
Category: WALS - Wednesday Afternoon Lectures
Runtime: 01:07:59
Description: NIH Director's Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series
The vertebrate intestinal tract is colonized by hundreds of species of bacteria that outnumber the total cells in the host, yet must be compartmentalized and tolerated to prevent invasive growth and harmful inflammatory responses. A key function of commensal microbes is to contribute to the adaptive immune repertoire and to diverse lymphocyte effector functions. T cell responses against non-invasive commensals contribute to shaping the repertoire of effector/memory and regulatory T cells. How T cells elicited by commensal bacteria can influence autoimmunity is a central question that remains unsolved. The Littman Lab studies the antigenic specificity of microbiota-induced T cells and the mechanisms by which their functions are acquired upon interaction with distinct commensal species. His lab finds that Th17 cells, which are central to mucosal barrier defense but also participate in autoimmune disease, are induced by specific constituents of the microbiota, and acquire effector function only after additional exposure to endogenous adjuvants, such as the serum amyloid A proteins. The lab's studies in mice are not only relevant for human autoimmune diseases, many of which have Th17 cell involvement, but may also provide insights into how commensal microbe-specific T cell responses could be harnessed for mucosal vaccination and cancer immunotherapy.
For more information go to oir.nih.gov/wals/2016-2017
Author: Dan R. Littman, M.D., Ph.D., Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Kimmel Professor of Molecular Immunology at New York University School of Medicine
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