TY - JOUR
T1 - Microbiota-Nourishing Immunity
T2 - A Guide to Understanding Our Microbial Self
AU - Litvak, Yael
AU - Baumler, Andreas J
PY - 2019/8/20
Y1 - 2019/8/20
N2 - In ecological terms, the microbiome is defined as the microbiota and its environment, a definition that encompasses the human host. The size, species composition, and biogeography of microbial communities is shaped by host interactions, and, in turn, the microbiota influences many aspects of human health. Here we discuss the concept of microbiota-nourishing immunity, a host-microbe chimera composed of the microbiota and host factors that shape the microbial ecosystem, which functions in conferring colonization resistance against pathogens. We propose that dysbiosis is a biomarker of a weakening in microbiota-nourishing immunity and that homeostasis can be defined as a state of immune competence. Microbiota-nourishing immunity thus provides a conceptual framework to further examine the mechanisms that preserve a healthy microbiome and the drivers and consequences of dysbiosis.
AB - In ecological terms, the microbiome is defined as the microbiota and its environment, a definition that encompasses the human host. The size, species composition, and biogeography of microbial communities is shaped by host interactions, and, in turn, the microbiota influences many aspects of human health. Here we discuss the concept of microbiota-nourishing immunity, a host-microbe chimera composed of the microbiota and host factors that shape the microbial ecosystem, which functions in conferring colonization resistance against pathogens. We propose that dysbiosis is a biomarker of a weakening in microbiota-nourishing immunity and that homeostasis can be defined as a state of immune competence. Microbiota-nourishing immunity thus provides a conceptual framework to further examine the mechanisms that preserve a healthy microbiome and the drivers and consequences of dysbiosis.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.immuni.2019.08.003
DO - 10.1016/j.immuni.2019.08.003
M3 - Review article
C2 - 31433969
AN - SCOPUS:85070221123
VL - 51
SP - 214
EP - 224
JO - Immunity
JF - Immunity
SN - 1074-7613
IS - 2
ER -