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Do symbiotic bacteria subvert host immunity?

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 7, pages 367–374 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

The mammalian intestine is home to dense and complex indigenous bacterial communities. Most of these bacteria establish beneficial symbiotic relationships with their hosts, making important contributions to host metabolism and digestive efficiency. The vast numbers of intestinal bacteria and their proximity to host tissues raise the question of how symbiotic host–bacterial relationships are established without eliciting potentially harmful immune responses. In light of the varied ways in which pathogenic bacteria manipulate host immunity, this Opinion article explores the role of immune suppression, subversion and evasion in the establishment of symbiotic host–bacterial associations.

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Figure 1: Metabolic adaptations of symbiotic bacteria to the intestinal lumen.
Figure 2: Immune mechanisms that confine intestinal bacteria to the lumen.
Figure 3: Control of immune activation in response to symbiotic bacteria.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks the students and colleagues from her laboratory for the many discussions that contributed to the ideas in this manuscript. Work in the author's laboratory is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Institutes of Health (DK070855), the Burroughs Wellcome Foundation (New Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases Award) and the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation.

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  1. Department of Immunology and Department of Microbiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 75390, Texas, Dallas, USA

    Lora V. Hooper

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Hooper, L. Do symbiotic bacteria subvert host immunity?. Nat Rev Microbiol 7, 367–374 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro2114

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