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INTESTINAL VIROME

Viruses RIG up intestinal immunity

Nature Immunology volume 20, pages 1563–1564 (2019)Cite this article

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The virome, increasingly recognized as a critical component of the mammalian microbiota, modulates host physiology. An antiviral treatment approach reveals that, via RIG-I signaling, the commensal virome is essential for the homeostasis of intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes.

The intestinal epithelium, composed of intestinal epithelial cells and intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs), is the front line of defense of the mammalian gut, constantly encountering and interacting with microorganisms in the intestinal lumen. In this issue of Nature Immunology, Liu et al. demonstrate a key role for the commensal virome in the development of IELs1. In healthy mice, commensal viruses activate an unconventional RIG-I–MAVS–IRF1 signaling pathway to induce production of the cytokine IL-15 in dendritic cells (DCs) and thereby promote the biogenesis of IELs.

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Fig. 1: RIG-I-mediated sensing of commensal viruses stimulates IEL homeostasis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences & Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Sanghyun Lee & Megan T. Baldridge

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  1. Sanghyun Lee
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  2. Megan T. Baldridge
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Correspondence to Megan T. Baldridge.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Lee, S., Baldridge, M.T. Viruses RIG up intestinal immunity. Nat Immunol 20, 1563–1564 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-019-0530-y

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