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Bacteria and host interactions in the gut epithelial barrier

Nature Chemical Biology volume 8, pages 36–45 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

The gut mucosa acts as a barrier against microbial invaders, whereas resident commensal and foreign invading bacteria interact intimately with the gut epithelium and influence the host cellular and immune systems. The epithelial barrier serves as an infectious foothold for many bacterial pathogens and as an entry port for pathogens to disseminate into deeper tissues. Enteric bacterial pathogens can efficiently infect the gut mucosa using highly sophisticated virulence mechanisms that allow bacteria to circumvent the defense barriers in the gut. We provide an overview of the components of the mucosal barrier and discuss the bacterial stratagems that circumvent these barriers with particular emphasis on the roles of bacterial effector proteins.

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Figure 1: T3SS is a delivery system for bacterial effectors.
Figure 2: Interaction between the microbiota and gut pathogens.
Figure 3: The mucus layer as a gut barrier.
Figure 4: Bacterial pathogens breach epithelial integrity.
Figure 5: Bacterial countermeasures against epithelial cell death and turnover.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Specially Promoted Research (23000012 to C.S.); a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S) (20229006 to C.S.); a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A) (23689027 to M.K.); a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) (23790471 to M.O. and 23790472 to H.A.), a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (23390102 to H.M.); a Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research (23659220 to H.M.); and a grant from the Japan Initiative for Global Research Network on Infectious Diseases to C.S. from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Part of this work was supported by grants from the Naito Foundation (to H.A.).

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  1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Hiroshi Ashida, Michinaga Ogawa, Hitomi Mimuro & Chihiro Sasakawa

  2. Department of Infectious Disease Control, International Research Center for Infectious Disease, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Minsoo Kim & Chihiro Sasakawa

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Ashida, H., Ogawa, M., Kim, M. et al. Bacteria and host interactions in the gut epithelial barrier. Nat Chem Biol 8, 36–45 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.741

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