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T cells and intestinal commensal bacteria‐ignorance, rejection, and acceptance
Author(s) -
Chai Jiani N.,
Zhou You W.,
Hsieh Chyi-Song
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2014.06.040
Subject(s) - commensalism , bacteria , immune system , foxp3 , effector , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , ignorance , intracellular parasite , homeostasis , immunology , genetics , philosophy , epistemology
Trillions of commensal bacteria cohabit our bodies to mutual benefit. In the past several years, it has become clear that the adaptive immune system is not ignorant of intestinal commensal bacteria, but is constantly interacting with them. For T cells, the response to commensal bacteria does not appear uniform, as certain commensal bacterial species appear to trigger effector T cells to reject and control them, whereas other species elicit Foxp3 + regulatory T (Treg) cells to accept and be tolerant of them. Here, we review our current knowledge of T cell differentiation in response to commensal bacteria, and how this process leads to immune homeostasis in the intestine.