Acute Gastrointestinal Infection Induces Long-Lived Microbiota-Specific T Cell Responses

作者：Hand Timothy W; Dos Santos Liliane M; Bouladoux Nicolas; Molloy Michael J; Pagan Antonio J; Pepper Marion; Maynard Craig L; Elson Charles O III; Belkaid Yasmine^*

来源：Science, 2012, 337(6101): 1553-1556.

DOI：10.1126/science.1220961

The mammalian gastrointestinal tract contains a large and diverse population of commensal bacteria and is also one of the primary sites of exposure to pathogens. How the immune system perceives commensals in the context of mucosal infection is unclear. Here, we show that during a gastrointestinal infection, tolerance to commensals is lost, and microbiota-specific T cells are activated and differentiate to inflammatory effector cells. Furthermore, these T cells go on to form memory cells that are phenotypically and functionally consistent with pathogen-specific T cells. Our results suggest that during a gastrointestinal infection, the immune response to commensals parallels the immune response against pathogenic microbes and that adaptive responses against commensals are an integral component of mucosal immunity.

• 出版日期2012-9-21