Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Year in Review
  • Published:

GUT MICROBIOTA IN 2021

Mycobiota–host immune interactions in IBD: coming out of the shadows

Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology volume 19, pages 91–92 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

2021 has been a productive year for fungal research. Key studies focused on intestinal inflammation and inflammatory bowel disease highlight antibody-mediated immunity in control of fungal commensalism, commensal and dietary fungi in intestinal inflammation and wound healing, and the therapeutic potential of transgenic yeast engineered to sense and target factors during intestinal inflammation.

Key advances

  • Mycobiota-induced antibodies influence systemic antifungal immunity5 and fungal commensalism in the gut by targeting Candida albicans adhesins6 (Als3) and secreted virulence factors7 (candidalysin and Sap6). Targeting Als3 influenced the severity of colitis in mice6, whereas secretory IgA antibodies to candidalysin and Sap6 are dysregulated in Crohn’s disease7.

  • Food-associated Candida species such as Debaryomyces hansenii can influence intestinal physiology1. D. hansenii found in mouse and human intestinal wounds prevent healing by turning protective macrophages into CCL5-producing perpetuators of tissue recovery1.

  • Transgenic Saccharomyces cerevisiae were engineered to sense and respond to intestinal extracellular ATP and suppress intestinal inflammation in mouse models9, providing a powerful example of mycobiota-centred future therapeutics.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Interactions between gut mycobiota and immune system in IBD.

References

  1. Jain, U. et al. Debaryomyces is enriched in Crohn’s disease intestinal tissue and impairs healing in mice. Science 371, 1154–1159 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Boutin, R. C. T. et al. Bacterial–fungal interactions in the neonatal gut influence asthma outcomes later in life. elife 10, e67740 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Leonardi, I. et al. CX3CR1+ mononuclear phagocytes control immunity to intestinal fungi. Science 359, 232–236 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Quinton, J. F. et al. Anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae mannan antibodies combined with antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies in inflammatory bowel disease: prevalence and diagnostic role. Gut 42, 788–791 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Doron, I. et al. Human gut mycobiota tune immunity via CARD9-dependent induction of anti-fungal IgG antibodies. Cell 184, 1017–1031 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Ost, K. S. et al. Adaptive immunity induces mutualism between commensal eukaryotes. Nature 596, 114–118 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Doron, I. et al. Mycobiota-induced IgA antibodies regulate fungal commensalism in the gut and are dysregulated in Crohn’s Disease. Nat. Microbiol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-021-00983-z (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Ruben, S. et al. Ahr1 and Tup1 contribute to the transcriptional control of virulence-associated genes in Candida albicans. mBio 11, e00206-20 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Scott, B. M. et al. Self-tunable engineered yeast probiotics for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Nat. Med. 27, 1212–1222 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Break, T. J. et al. Aberrant type 1 immunity drives susceptibility to mucosal fungal infections. Science 371, eaay5731 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Owing to reference limitations, several seminal and new works could not be cited.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gastroenterology and Hepatology Division, Joan and Sanford I. Weill Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Iliyan D. Iliev

  2. The Jill Roberts Institute for Research in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Iliyan D. Iliev

  3. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Iliyan D. Iliev

  4. Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis Program, Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, New York, NY, USA

    Iliyan D. Iliev

Authors
  1. Iliyan D. Iliev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Iliyan D. Iliev.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Iliev, I.D. Mycobiota–host immune interactions in IBD: coming out of the shadows. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 19, 91–92 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-021-00541-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-021-00541-2

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing